Searching for the Past
by Artemicion
Summary: Long ago,when the Machina War raged, Zaon left a treasure behind of unimaginable power. Now, someone dangerous seeks to attain this treasure. With Gippal's help, Rikku must stop them at all costs. Even if that cost is her life. GippalRikku
1. Prologue

_**Searching for the Past**_

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy X-2. Its characters belong to the geniuses at Square Enix. I own the original characters in the story but why on earth would anyone want to steal them...?

Author's Notes: This takes place a little over two years after the events of Final Fantasy X-2. There will be spoilers from the game. I'm in love with the Gippal/Rikku pairing so I decided to take a shot at writing a fic about them. Enjoy.

**[**Blah Blah**]** = Al Bhed translation. They will be at the end of each sentence with an Al Bhed word or phrase in it. It can be a bit confusing but I hate having to scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page to get a translation.

Prologue: All because of a sphere...again 

"What is it?"

"What does it look like? It's a sphere."

"A sphere? It doesn't look like a normal sphere."

"That's because it's really old. It's, like, ancient in fact."

"Turn it on. Let's see it."

"It's really fuzzy...wow. Look at that. How weird."

"Yeah. Hey, adjust it, will you? I can't make heads or tails of it."

"I'm trying...cred!" **[**shit!**]**

"...What did you do?"

"I didn't DO anything! It's so old that it's practically falling apart!"

"Here, let me see it...Ha! There we go. That wasn't so hard."

"Show off."

"Whatever. I know you envy my brilliance."

"Yeah. Sure."

"...Hey Orric, does that remind you of that old historian guy? You know, that creepy guy that wouldn't shut up about Zanarkand?"

"Maechen?"

"Yeah! That's him!"

"Nah, it can't be him. Unless...he's really, really old. This sphere is at least a thousand years old if not more."

"Hmmm."

"I have an idea. Let's take it to the boss. Maybe he'll want it, his kid being a sphere hunter and all."

"Good idea. I've been dying to get a drink anyway after that sandwich."

"To Luca, then?"

"To Luca!"


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Gippal frowned in concentration as he fitted the final part onto the machina drone. The screws that went into repairing this particular model were small and required careful attention or else it would not work properly at all. So, Gippal's morning had been spent tinkering away at it, fixing the internal components and replacing the rusty, battered exterior. Normally, he would not have bothered to fix a piece of machina so busted up as this one had been but after examining it thoroughly, he saw that it had the potential to be great if it was in better condition.

"Vehycco!" He exclaimed, standing and stretching his sore muscles, stiff from hours of huddling over the machina. **[**Finally!**]**

He stood back to examine his work proudly.

The machina drone was a new model, built from an incredibly old one that Gippal's men had found in the sands of Bikanel Desert. Not even the oldest and most experienced of Al Bhed mechanics had ever seen this particular model before and by the severe weather damage done to the drone, it was believed to have originated as far back as to the days of Zanarkand's time. Gippal personally didn't care. It had been an opportunity to add another worker machina to his collection and he'd taken it. Plus, the challenge of fixing it had grabbed Gippal's attention instantaneously.

"Let's see what this baby can do," He mumbled to himself and activated the drone.

The green spherical jewel that adorned the drone's chest lit up. The sound of metal grating against metal was heard as the internal components came to life. Two round red lights on the 'face' of the drone lit up as the drone 'opened its eyes'. The left arm, from Gippal's analysis, had once been used as the primary weapon of the drone; a rapid-fire gun had been latched to it at one point. Gippal had uninstalled it and attached a part from another machina. When he'd discovered its obvious past as a soldier drone, he'd immediately set to work on replacing the software with a "Worker" program.

Now it stood before him on its spidery legs, both arms outstretched as it watched Gippal expectantly. Gippal tested it out with a remote: making it move its limbs, testing its ability to respond to orders, and watching for any signs of awkward movement. When he was satisfied, he shut it back down and whistled cheerily while sauntering out of the tent. As usual, the sun blared down mercilessly on the gold sands of Bikanel Desert. Gippal squinted, shading his eyes with his hand as he took in the site set up for digging excavations in the harsh desert.

When he spotted the site's coordinator Nhadala, he whistled and motioned her over. She joined him, pushing her protective goggles up into her stringy blond hair. "I'm not a dog, Gippal. The whistling stops. What do you want?"

"I am a genius," He said in a cocky tone, grinning from ear to ear. He knew that annoyed her to no end.

"That so?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"That old machina Jerra found? I fixed it up. I even made some adjustments. And you said it'd be impossible…"

"Well, let's take a look then."

They ducked inside the tent that Gippal had spent all morning working in. He activated the machina drone, handed Nhadala the remote, and stood back as she tested it out for herself. After a moment, Nhadala was appeased and gave the remote back to him. "I'm impressed. The movement in its left arm is kind of off and that back plate could use some oiling. But with a few more tweaks, this will be excellent."

Gippal made a bored face, "I'll be gracious today."

Nhadala blinked. "What?"

"I'll let you be the FIRST to get my autograph. I mean, it's not every day that you get encounter such brilliance and ingenuity and-"

"-And self-righteous egotism?"

"Well, I was going to say devilishly handsome good looks. You're harsh, Nhadala," He feigned a pout which she predictably rolled her eyes at. It was a good thing they had been working together for so long. She was used to his flirty tendencies and playfulness even though she rewarded him with wry, scathingly blunt answers.

"At least," she continued with a nod towards the machina as she looked it over again, "we'll have another drone out there. "We could use the extra help. Daelin said he found three more like this one out there so don't start thinking that your work's done yet, O devilishly handsome one."

Gippal stared at her in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

Nhadala shook her head, though. "Nope. Go out there and see for yourself. He even said that they were uncovering more." She frowned. "I wonder why there are so many of these things out there? No one's ever seen this model before but we're finding so many of them these days. It's like an army."

That sent an instinctive shudder of fear down Gippal's spine as a sudden image of the massive, monstrosity that was Vegnagun from two years back filled his head. An army of Soldier Machina…scary. He allowed himself to mull on it for a moment and then shrugged dismissively.

"Who knows? In any case, just get some people started on them and I'll be back to help whenever I get a chance."

"Where are you going?"

"What? Didn't you know? Lady Yuna's getting married! I'm spending a few days in Luca for her wedding."

Nhadala's eyes widened. "Oh! I'd almost forgotten." Then she added sheepishly. "I guess I've been a little TOO eager to find out more about these drones. I can't believe I forgot. Brother's been babbling on and on about it all week."

This made the young Machine Faction leader grin. "I'll bet he wasn't too happy."

"Sobbing like a baby," Nhadala confirmed. Both of them were very much aware of Brother's stranger, disturbing obsession with his own cousin. They exchanged knowing glances and started laughing. One of Nhadala's workers from a returning hover suddenly called to her, gesturing for her to join them.

"Hmm…it looks like they found another one. I'd better get back to work."

"Yeah. I'll see you in a few days," Gippal pivoted and began walking towards the tent to grab his bag.

"Oh, and Gippal?"

Gippal turned. "Yeah?"

"Do me a favor and make sure Brother doesn't embarrass himself too much, will you?"

"Who am I? Yevon?" He cracked but Nhadala's face was serious so he relented. "Okay, okay. I will. I will. I promise I'll keep an eye on the goof."

She grinned wolfishly. "I hardly think that eye of yours will STAY on him when a certain bride's maid will be there."

"What?"

"…Nevermind."

Gippal got a lift back to Djose Temple on a small airship named The Airazor that a friend of his owned. It was kind of a shabby ship and after being on Brother's incredible Celsius, The Airazor was downright a piece of crap. At least it flew and Veyan faithfully kept her in her peak condition with all sorts of modifications and repairs. His own airship was back at Djose where it was being worked on for a damaged turbine.

"Approaching Djose Temple," Veyan said from where he sat in the pilot's seat. Beside him was his co-pilot and wife Avia.

"Got everything, Gippal?" Avia asked kindly to their passenger. She smiled warmly, her dark green eyes lighting up and making the swirl distinctive to Al Bhed heritage in them more prominent.

Gippal grinned and held up the simple bag he had brought with him to help Nhadala out at the dig. "I'm good. Thanks again for the ride, you two."

"No problem, buddy. Don't work too hard. I'll swing by in a few months so we can go watch some Blitzball, 'kay?" Veyan answered energetically.

"Sounds good. Thanks again."

Veyan brought The Airazor to a hover near the clearing over Djose Temple. Gippal stood and went to the Save Sphere (it became the teleporter's unofficial name after Veyan Oh-so-cleverly thought of it with a gleeful, "SAVE Spheres SAVE time!") that sat in the back and touched it, transporting himself instantly down to the Save Sphere outside of the Bikanel Digging Registration Office. He waved up to Veyan and Avia as The Airazor's thrusters flared up and the ship began pulling away.

Gippal was greeted by several people outside of the Temple, some waiting to get into the registration office, others just loitering. He pushed open the massive doors and felt the cool air of the temple caress his face. Inside, Djose Temple had changed. After the Vegnagun incident two years earlier, Gippal had decided that it was time to remodel. Even though he'd been comfortable working in the stifling, dark space, there had always been a slight feel of something…too spiritual about the temple. Despite the Fayth being long gone and the Cloister of Trials now nothing more than a massive storage room and extra working space, it often felt to Gippal like he and his workers were somehow intruding on holy land.

The statues commemorating the High Summoners of the past had been removed. Gippal had had them sent to Bevelle where Praetor Baralai kept them in a newly built Hall of Memories. It seemed to be the perfect place for them as the Hall of Memories was a tribute to all of the Summoners that gave their lives to battle Sin. After they were removed, Gippal had the rest of the temple remodeled and even widened so they could have more space to work on the machina in.

He made his way to his office. It was the same cluttered mess that he had left. Gippal carelessly tossed his bag down and sat down on the bed. He began stripping out of his boots and armor, his mind already craving a nice shower after spending all morning the grueling desert heat. He grabbed a towel and was heading towards the tiny washroom he'd had built beside his office when someone pounded on the door.

"Fryd ec ed?" Gippal demanded, annoyed. **[**What is it?**]**

"Cusauha'c rana du caa oui." **[**Someone's here to see you.**]**

Gippal frowned. "Fru?" **[**Who?**]**

A new voice answered. "It's me. Paine."

His face immediately lit up into a grin at the dull, calm voice. He pulled open the door and greeted his old friend. "Dr. P! Fancy meeting you here!"

"Stop that," Paine growled and walked in.

Gippal chuckled and closed the door. "You're early. I just barely got back."

"So I noticed," Paine remarked with a quick look at his dirty appearance. "You have sand all over you. Go shower. Baralai and Nooj are waiting."

"Aww, not even a hug for an old friend, Dr. P?" He opened his arms and grinned teasingly as he trudged towards her.

She frowned and evaded him. "Not when you smell like that. GO." She gave him a push towards the washroom.

"Oh, okay. I see how it is!" Gippal pretended to be hurt, dramatically 'bursting into tears', and running off through the doorway.

Half an hour later he was clean, refreshed, and enthusiastically walking side by side with Paine out of Djose Temple and towards the Celsius. When they got onboard, Gippal found Nooj and Baralai talking to Buddy. They turned when they heard the two of them enter.

"Gippal," Nooj simply said with a nod of his head.

"It's good to see you again," Baralai added with a gentle smile.

"Well, it looks like the whole gang is reunited," Gippal commented with a grin. For Yuna's wedding, the three faction leaders had decided unanimously that it'd be best to leave all politics aside so they would not bring any trouble to the High Summoner's wedding. The three of them had opted to take the trip as private leave of absences from their factions and Paine had volunteered to take them to Luca. Luckily, their factions had been getting along for the last two years and they intended to keep it that way. Yuna deserved a peaceful, happy wedding day after all that she had endured for Spira's sake. They would attend as friends and ensure that. Besides, three leaders of three different factions attending as friends would set a good example.

It felt good to be among them, Gippal admitted to himself. It felt like old times.

"Well now that we're all here, let's get this show on the road," Paine said. She moved past Gippal and straight for the empty pilot's seat beside Buddy.

"Huh? You're piloting?" asked Gippal in surprise. "But where's Brother? This is his airship!"

"He's in the cabin. He been in there sobbing like a baby for days," Buddy informed him as he and Paine began start up procedures.

"Uh huh…" Gippal exchanged glances with Baralai, tilting his head and scratching the back of his neck. He walked over towards the pilot's seat and asked, "Do you even know how to fly this thing?"

Paine waved a hand, "Please. Effortless."

"Don't worry, Gippal. She has it under control," Baralai spoke up from the seat that he had taken in the empty chair on Paine's lower left. "She wanted to be the pilot, after all."

Gippal laughed at the allusion to their dream of flying an airship together back in their Crimson Squad days. "That old dream! In that case, where to Captain Noojster?"

"Brats," Nooj simply grunted but chuckled. Oh yes, this was certainly like old times.

"Hey Paine," Gippal said when something occurred to him. "Is it just you? I know Yuna's in Luca getting ready for the wedding. Where's Rikku?"

To his surprise, an odd look of concern adorned Paine's face for a moment. "Last I heard, she's going to the Calm Lands to pick up a wedding present from Clasko for Yuna. She's supposed to meet us in Luca when she gets back."

"Last you…heard?" Gippal repeated. "You guys aren't traveling together any more?"

Paine shook her head. "She's been doing it solo for a while now. She gives us a call once in a while from the CommSpheres."

Come to think of it, he hadn't heard from her in a while either. The last time Gippal saw Rikku, she'd stopped by with Brother to help out with some machina Cid needed them to retrieve from Djose about a year ago. Since then, he'd been busy excavating Bikanel and working with Nooj and Baralai to keep the peace in Spira to worry much about the energetic girl. So she was traveling around the world on her own…he was surprised. He didn't think Rikku had it in her to do it alone.

"Imagine that. Cid's little girl grew up," Gippal murmured.

The tone in which Paine answered puzzled him. "You have no idea."

A/N: I love feedback. Thoughts? Comments? I'd love to hear them. Read and Review!


	3. Chapter Two

A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews! You guys rock. :)

Chapter Two

Rikku felt a swoosh of wind rustle through her hair as the muscular bundle of dark gray fur, slender legs, and snarling jaws barely missed her. She jumped back, using her weight to balance herself before springing vertically into the air. And just in time too; the fiend barreled right through the place she'd just been standing with a ferocious yowl. She could feel the gust of wind against her bare leg as it passed.

_Too close!_ Rikku's mind whined but she ignored it. The weight of the long, wide bladed sword pressed into her hands. She whirled to face the Lupus as it crouched, power rippling through every tense muscle hidden beneath the thin, oily fur. It watched her predatorily with its glowing blood red eyes. She watched it carefully while it began inching around her, muscles tensing in a pounce position.

Rikku tightened her grip no the hilt of the sword. Sweat trickled down her spine despite the cool breeze ever present in the Calm Lands. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she made a mental note to herself to thank Paine for suggesting that she equip the Warrior Dressphere for her trip across the vast Calm Lands. From the constant encounters she was having against pretty much every fiend around, Rikku wouldn't have been surprised if she'd mastered all of the skills of the Warrior by the time she made it to Clasko's Chocobo Ranch.

With a wild snarl, the Lupus sprang. Rikku bounded forward, then swiftly sidestepped. The sharp black claws missed her by centimeters. The Lupus twisted its head, jaws snapping, spittle flying. Rikku stumbled over an out of place rock and was nearly struck as the fiend lunged for her legs. She managed to scramble to the side and noticed that in the Lupus' desperate shot for her legs, it'd left its neck vulnerable.

She didn't hesitate. Moving quickly to avoid the massively powerful jaws, Rikku slammed the hilt of the sword down unto the exposed neck. The fiend emitted a high yelp of pain. Its body hit the ground with a thud, and it whimpered in momentary daze.

Rikku wasted no time in pressing her attack. She rushed forward and brought the sword down in a smooth, wide arc. Finely honed steel easily sliced through muscle and bone, severing blood vessels and veins. The beheaded Lupus fell limp and then shimmered. It abruptly burst into a scatter of pyreflies, dissipating into the air like a fading cloud.

The girl hastily looked around for signs of any more immediate attack. When she was sure it was safe, Rikku let out a relieved sigh. The Warrior outfit and sword disappeared at her command. She was back in her more comfortable Thief attire.

_There has to be an easier way to get around here!_ Rikku huffed to herself. She started jogging again towards the far eastern wall of the Calm Lands where the Chocobo Ranch was situated.

A week ago, Yuna had gotten a call from an apologetic Clasko, begging forgiveness for being unable to attend her coming wedding. He'd been eager to go but had been forced to cancel when he realized that a clutch of Chocobo eggs he had on his hands was due to hatch on the very day of Yuna's wedding. Yuna had just laughed understandably and reassured him that it was all right. She knew the first thing in Clasko's life was his passion with Chocobos.

However, Clasko told her that he had a wedding present that he desperately wanted to get to her but knew no way how being so far isolated in the massive Calm Lands. It was well known that self-reliance was not one of Clasko's forte. But luckily, Yuna had known that Rikku was nearby on Mt. Gagazet visiting the Ronso. So, the High Summoner got a message through to her cousin via Ronso Elder Kimahri, asking her to pick up whatever it was that Clasko so desperately wanted to give her before she returned for the wedding.

Rikku didn't mind and after a quick "I'll see you at Yunie's wedding!" to Kimahri, she'd set off for the Calm Lands. After she picked up the present, she would be heading back towards Luca to get ready for the wedding as one of Yuna's bride's maids. She smiled just thinking about Yuna and Tidus finally tying the knot. Even though many though that getting married at twenty-one was young, Rikku knew that her cousin and soon to be cousin-in-law were meant for each other. She was glad the blond Blitzer was back; Yuna was happy.

"Here we are!" Rikku said to herself when the opening to the Chocobo Ranch finally came into view. Eager to get this over with, Rikku quickened her pace towards the underground ranch.

Even as she neared it, she could already hear the unmistakable 'kweh!!' of the Chocobos inside. The ranch had been expanded a bit since the last time Rikku had been there, which was a little less than half a year ago. Clasko and his young assistant (and fellow Chocobo-obsessee) Calli had had the entrance tunnel widened and set up small fence off areas outside so they could take the Chocobos out for air.

She walked into the underground ranch and turned to the clearing where Clasko usually occupied. Not surprisingly, a plush Chocobo doll was set on the ground with a note pinned to it, asking for whoever that was reading it to call for Clasko since he was on patrol.

"Hey CLASKO!" Rikku hollered. She waited for a moment. Sure enough, a moment later the sound of footsteps thudding against the stone paved ground could be heard nearing her location.

"Huh? Sorry, I was-Oh! Rikku!"

Rikku reeled and smiled cheerfully. "Hey Clasko! Long time no see."

"It's good to see you again," Clasko warmly greeted her with a handshake. She was happy to see that he didn't seem to have changed much. Despite being bumbling and a bit pathetic, Clasko was a nice guy.

"Same here. How have things been? This place looks great!"

Clasko blushed but a proud expression came onto his face. "Thank you. Calli and I have been working on expanding. It's been really fun. Have you heard about the Chocobo eggs hatching tomorrow?"

Rikku nodded. "Yunie mentioned it. Sounds...exciting."

"OH but it is! I can't believe that I'm actually going to see a real live Chocobo hatching! It's really rare for any human to see this even, you know. Even with so many Chocobos around, hardly anyone has had the opportunity to watch baby Chocobos hatch as they're so protective of their young..."

The young Al Bhed woman was nodding cordially. She patiently tilted her head at the man before her as he continued to rant on in his terrible excitement about the birth of three Chocobo chicks.

"....maybe get to hold one—that is if the mother doesn't mind of course! Calli calls them 'Chicobos'. I think we're going to stick with that term. OH I JUST CAN'T WAIT!"

Seeing Rikku's stance, Clasko's face turned red again in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I...I'm just so excited, you know? Calli and I have worked so hard on this ranch, and this is just such a great reward for all that we've done."

Rikku smiled reassuringly and waved a dismissive hand at his unnecessary apology. "Forget it. I think it sounds wonderful. Congratulations." She giggled. "You know, in a way...this makes you a grandfather! Grandpa Clasko! Imagine that!"

This made Clasko blink at her blankly a few times, then he slowly started chuckling. "I've never thought of it that way before. Yes...yes, I suppose it does make me like a grandfather." He laughed. "Just wait until I tell Calli! She claims that she's the Chocobos' big sister."

Rikku grinned. "Sounds right. Okay, how about that present you said you had for Yunie? I'd love to stay and chat but I really need to be getting to Luca."

"O-Oh of course! I'll go get it. It's in one of the back rooms. We had a storage room built out of one of the old Chocobo pens but I haven't managed to have the place organized yet. I was telling Maddox-"

Clasko was abruptly cut off by a loud wailing noise that very suddenly filled the air. Red lights that Rikku had not noticed before attached along the walls came to life in red flashes as the high rhythmic keening continued. Wincing, Rikku's hands instinctively shot up to her head to cover her ears.

"WHAT IS THAT?" She demanded loudly to Clasko, who was doing the same as her, face contorted in discomfort. Even with her hands muffling the loud siren, she could hear the now distressed cries of the Chocobos. The siren was obviously scaring the wits out of them as well.

"IT'S THE ALARM SYSTEM! IT MEANS THERE MUST BE A FIEND INTRUDING ON THE RANCH!" Clasko screamed back and began scuttling away, hopefully to shut off the alarm.

_An ALARM system for fiends? From the sounds of it, you'd think Sin was back!_ Rikku thought incredulously as she followed him. _Better be prepared. Just in case..._

The Warrior outfit shimmered onto her body and the sword materialized into her waiting hands. Ahead of her Clasko warily peaked around the corner, pressing himself against he wall. In a nervous voice he said, "Uh...I don't see anything...must be a false..."

KWEHHHHH!!!

Clasko's eyes widened, "The Chocobos!"

All caution aside, he made a break down the corridor. Rikku easily followed. She gripped the hilt of the sword tightly. The weight of the blade in her hands was comforting at the thought of meeting whatever fiend was harassing one of the poor Chocobos.

The wild, panicked shrieking of the Chocobo continued to echo throughout the Ranch even as the loud siren was blaring. Clasko veered down the right path and ran into the corridor. He halted so suddenly that Rikku nearly slammed right into him. At the very end of the corridor, a Queen Coeurl was stalking rapaciously towards the unseen, distressed birds in their pen.

"NO! Goldie! Pekko! I'll save you!" Clasko shouted and pelted across the hall before Rikku could stop him.

"Clasko! Wait!" Rikku automatically ran after him. The man could barely defend himself nevertheless a Chocobo!

Their shouts had distracted the fiend. It turned to look at them and growled threateningly, the whiskers lining the orange face stiffening. Small sparks of energy began to crackle from the bushy red end of the whiskers. It smarted, crackled in tiny irregular jolts and then quickly into a web of energy, charging a dangerous amount of energy.

"CLASKO! MOVE!" Rikku roared and threw herself forward at the man. She used her weight to shove both of them out of the way. They landed in a heap as overhead, a powerful blast of shocking white-blue electricity exploded past them and blasted right into a stone wall, fizzling into nothing.

Rikku frowned as she rose. "You're going down!"

The Queen Coeurl hissed at her menacingly and turned so that it was fully facing her, crouched and poised for combat. Rikku swung the sword elegantly in a wide circle and took a moment to concentrate, centering herself. The fiend predictably saw this as hesitation in its opponent and took the chance to run forward, ready to go for the kill. Big mistake.

Rikku waited a fraction of a second longer for the Queen Coeurl to come closer. Even as Clasko's hysterical shout of warning came, she was already dashing forward to meet her opponent head on. She slashed, using Magic Break to render the fiend's impressive magic usage to nothing. The Queen Coeurl, startled, yipped and clumsily fell back. It struggled to its feet while shaking its head in a vain attempt to dispel the restriction Rikku had just imposed onto it.

It wasn't terribly hard to defeat the creature, to the point of almost being disappointingly easy. A few well-timed dodges at the swipes the fiend made and a few painful hits she brought home the Queen Coeurl's body soon had the fiend vanishing into a puff of pyreflies. It hadn't even bothered using magic against her since she'd weakened it so much.

"Pekko! Oh Goldie! It's all right! The fiend's gone. Your eggs are fine!" Clasko was cooing to the two irate Chocobos when Rikku joined him at the last pen. The poor things were understandably in a great deal of distress. Rikku saw the mother Goldie protectively traipsing around a bundle of straw where three, large blue-speckled eggs were nestled. So these were the eggs Clasko had been so excited about. The father had calmed somewhat and was crooning worriedly at his eggs.

"Clasko, shut off the alarm! It's scaring all of them!" Rikku suggested. The loud wail and the startled cries of the Chocobos were giving her a headache.

"Oh! Right!"

She followed him back around to the other side of the Ranch to what appeared to have been a newly built office or storage room of some sort. On the wall was a piece of machina with all sorts of buttons and switches. Clasko hit a few of the buttons in what appeared to be a sequence of numbers, a code perhaps? But the deafening sound shut off and the red lights ceased flashing.

Rikku sighed, relieved. "Quite an alarm, you've got there, Clasko. Trying to raise the dead?"

Clasko hung his head, "I don't know what's wrong with it. It's really loud and I have no idea how to adjust the sound. But at least it works and warns us when a fiend gets into the Ranch. Still...I wish I knew how to fix it...or at least someone who did."

She shook her head, smiling to herself. Nope. Clasko hadn't changed much at all. She knew what he wanted but was afraid to ask. As usual, she took pity on him.

"Well, you're in luck since you're talking to a machina expert! Tell you what, after Yunie's wedding, I'll stop by sometime and take a looksie for you, okay?"

Clasko's face lit up. "Would you really? That'd be great!"

"No problem. But first things first, okay? I need to get to Luca for the wedding so I'm going to need that present to be on my way."

"Of course. Let me get that. I'll meet you at the entrance," Clasko was blushing again in embarrassment. He quickly dashed off and Rikku chuckled quietly as she dismissed the Warrior outfit, making her way back to the front. She wondered how Clasko and little Calli managed to deal with the fiends as neither of them were anything remotely similar to a warrior. It felt rude to ask so she just pondered it silently.

Clasko returned holding a package wrapped in, surprise surprise, Chocobo patterned wrapping paper. He smiled sheepishly. "I hope she likes it. And please tell her again how sorry I am that I'm going to miss the wedding."

"I will," Rikku assured him. "I'm sure she'll love it, Clasko. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks for your help, Rikku."

"My pleasure. Bye now!" Rikku tucked the package under her arm and ran, waving back at Clasko.

She hastened her pace towards the Item Shop that was centered near the western end of the Calm Lands. She only had about fifteen minutes before her ride would get there. Before she'd gone by Clasko's Ranch, Rikku had called ahead to the owner of the tiny item shop and managed to secure herself with a ride to Luca from the supply airship that was stopping by to drop a shipment of items. The kind owner and her family had become friends of hers over the years so she didn't mind having her husband give the girl a lift once in a while. Luckily, today he was making a trip to Luca to pick up a shipment of Potions and High Potions. Initially, she hadn't thought that she would have spent so long at Clasko's but the unexpected battle had drained some of her time. Now she had to really move it if she was going to make it.

KWEEEHHHH!!

"Now what?" Rikku muttered as she wheeled when the thudding of large feet came jogging up behind her. She was surprised to see one of the Chocobo from the pen she had saved. He came up to her and stopped. He hummed and lowered his head so she could see the note dangling from his neck:

Pekko wanted to thank you for saving his family.

Don't worry, he'll find his way home. See how smart they are?

-Clasko

The Chocobo tilted his head at her and nudged her shoulder affectionately with his beak. He crouched slightly and butted at her legs, motioning towards his back. Rikku grinned. He wanted her to ride him! She eagerly climbed on and grasped the straps that were strapped to harness around his neck.

'KWEHHHH!' Pekko shouted and then took off at an incredible burst of speed.

"WHOOO HOOOO!" Rikku impulsively cried as the cool wind rushed through her hair and past her face like an invisible current. She could feel the powerful muscles of the Chocobo beneath her as it effortlessly sprinted across the grassy plain of the Calm Lands. The world around them became a blur of green and blue as Pekko ran. She smiled, gripping the riding straps and Yuna's present as the exhilarating ride continued. This was way better than _running_ to the Item Shop!

She couldn't help but to feel a stab of disappointment when the said shop started coming into view. She tugged on the straps slightly and Pekko slowed to a trot. He stopped when they got to the shop and let her dismount. Rikku placed the package down for a moment and reached out to rub the smooth, disheveled yellow feathers of Pekko's neck.

"Thanks a lot, Pekko. You're a life saver," She reached into her side pouch where she had a Pahsana Green left from an earlier visit to the Ranch. Pekko shrilled in delight, accepting the offered treat. Then he gave her a loving nip on the fingers with his beak and then turned, dashing off with a final 'Kweh!' of goodbye.

Rikku cheerfully scooped up Yuna's present and sauntered up to the counter of the Item Shop. "Hey Amira."

The owner looked up, "Rikku! Hello there!" She glanced at the clock on the counter. "You're early. The supply airship doesn't get here for another ten or so minutes."

"Oh, it's okay. I was...uh...around so I figured why not stop by early?" Rikku answered, silently thanking Pekko.

"Well, it's wonderful to see you. Have a good trip to Mt. Gagazet? I heard you went there to visit the Ronso. Look at you! Goodness, have you grown? I haven't seen you in two months and you look taller!" 

They chatted for a while until the shadow of the supply airship enclosed over them. Amira reached under the counter and slid the pack Rikku had entrusted to her earlier the last time she'd been by. They were presents to Yuna from well-wishers that Rikku had encountered in her journey and other things that she'd picked up herself along the way. "Here are your things, dear."

"Thanks Amira," Rikku smiled and gratefully took the pack. She helped Amira's husband unload the items. Then gave Amira a hug, exchanged good-byes, and followed Elsion onto the airship with her pack. The older man gave her a gruff smile and told her to buckle in. They were off to Luca!

A/N: Chapter 3 is finished and being edited so it'll be up soon. Read and review!


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Luca was still as Gippal remembered it: busy, energetic, and yet still calm and relaxing all at the same time. As Paine brought the Celsius near Luca, he eagerly moved closer to get a better look at the large Blitzball Stadium that was generally the main attraction of the seaside city. Blitzball season didn't start up for a month or two but Gippal knew that teams had been practicing non-stop for the start up of the tournament again. He had friends on the Al Bhed Psyches who'd done nothing but practice since last Season. Seeing as the Al Bhed Psyches had taken the championship, it wasn't a big surprise; they had to defend their title against whoever played this time.

"Looks even busier than usual," Nooj remarked.

"Of course. High Summoner Yuna is getting married. Everyone wants to see, invitation or no," Baralai answered placidly as he peered down at the people cluttering the walkways.

This was why Gippal had been surprised when he first heard that Yuna's wedding would be held in Luca. When he asked Paine about why the wedding was being held in Luca instead of Besaid like it had originally been planned, he learned that the High Summoner had known that many people would be there to witness her marriage to the love of her life, someone named Tidus. So, wanting to keep the sanctity and peacefulness of Besaid in tact, Yuna had decided to move it to Luca.

"The wedding isn't even until the day after tomorrow!" Gippal commented.

When they all went to the engine room to get off of the Celsius, Gippal nearly had a heart attack when he saw another person suddenly appear behind them out of nowhere. His heart pounded even as he recognized who it was. Cool, icy amber eyes flicked casually over him in mild amusement before they settled on Baralai.

"Geez! Mako! Can you not do that?" Gippal demanded of the woman, who barely acknowledged him. Not that it was surprising. While she didn't seem fonder or nicer to any of the others aside from Baralai, she seemed to have taken an instant disliking to Gippal the moment they'd met. Instead of replying to him, her focus was on Baralai.

"Are you feeling well?" She asked softly to the young Praetor of New Yevon.

Baralai nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, sister."

Mako blinked simply and relaxed just a bit as she fell into step behind Baralai's slower hobble. Gippal winced at how Baralai walked with a slight limp now. How could it have slipped his mind that the young Praetor's gait was not as casual as before? A year ago, a faction of radicals had attempted to assassinate Baralai during a world leaders' conference outside of Bevelle. The men had not been associated with the Youth League but they had claimed that ridding Spira of New Yevon's tyranny was for the best of all.

They had all been captured or killed trying to flee of course. However, Baralai had been shot several times in his right hip, causing severe nerve and muscle damage. He'd been in the hospital with healers for nearly half a year. The incident almost caused the tentative alliance that was forming between the Youth League and New Yevon to crumble, as the members of New Yevon automatically assumed that this had been the work of the Youth League. Thankfully, in the end Baralai pulled through and the act was classified as an independent action. So the Eternal Calm continued.

At the time, Mako had been working with relief groups to help rebuild places that had been destroyed by Sin before Yuna defeated him. Upon hearing of the assassination attempt, the white-haired woman had rushed back to Bevelle to be with her brother. Now she headed the Royal Guard, the elite protection unit that defended Bevelle. It was rare to see Baralai in public without Mako hovering protectively nearby.

They were let off at the hotel in which had been reserved for Yuna's guests, courtesy of the Al Bhed businessman Rin. Gippal whistled appreciatively as he entered the luxurious hotel. "Being a celebrity really has its perks. I can't believe Rin isn't charging Yuna or any of her guests anything!"

Paine shrugged. "She offered to pay several times but he kept insisting. He said it was his present to Spira's savior. I'll bet anything that is a convenient tourist lure though. Who wouldn't want to stay at the hotel Lady Yuna stayed at?"

They were led to their rooms. Gippal and Baralai would be sharing one, which was fine by the both of them. They had a lot to catch up on. Before either of them could enter the room, Mako walked right past Gippal and entered. He watched incredulously as she thoroughly checked the room: looking under the beds, in the closet, the bathroom, the windows. She even checked the light and CommSphere for anything fishy! Once she seemed satisfied with her inspection, she exited, coolly brushing past Gippal as if he was not even there and walked right back to her original position at Baralai's side. It was as if her little investigation of the hotel room had not occurred.

Gippal stared at her, scratching the back of his neck, "Unbelievable."

"It's safe," Mako was saying to Baralai quietly, her brown eyes actually reflecting concern for him. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

Baralai smiled and gently patted his sister's hand, "I will be fine. Don't worry. I'll call you if I need anything."

Mako nodded but it didn't look to Gippal that she was satisfied with this. She graced him with a single neutral glance before she walked off with Paine, who she would be rooming with for the duration of their stay in Luca. Gippal frowned. "Geez, what's her deal?"

"She's...protective," Baralai smiled with a sheepish shrug. "And she, uh, has some bad history with the Al Bhed. So you'll have to forgive her for any callousness towards you."

"You don't say," Gippal turned to their silent companion. "Who are you rooming with, Noojster? Got a room to yourself? Or are you sharing with some cute Youth League girl you haven't told us about?"

"Not on your life!" a new voice suddenly broke in. They all turned to find a slim figure dressed in lively bright magenta clothing, flanked by two men: one tall with a face as if he'd licked one too many lemons and a short, fat one that looked eerily similar to an overweight bug. She smiled confidently and ran a perfectly manicured hand through her short blond hair while the other rested on one nicely chiseled hip.

"Leblanc!" The ever calm Nooj actually sounded surprised.

"Noojie-Woojie," Leblanc purred, "I'm surprised with you, love. I didn't expect to see you here at the Dullwing leader's wedding. Not that I'm complaining, mind you."

She sidled up to him and easily slipped her arms around one of his arms, smiling seductively at him. Nooj blinked awkwardly at her. "Oh...I...didn't expect to see you here either."

"Well you know how it is. The girl's save this world twice now. I thought the least I could do was be a doll and grace her wedding with my appearance," Leblanc explained indulgently as she continued to stare at Nooj with round, love-stricken eyes. How funny it was to see the stoic Youth League leader befuddled by the woman. Gippal resisted the urge to laugh out loud at the slightly panicked tenseness that had taken Nooj's body language. The older man would never admit it, but he felt for Leblanc, perhaps more than he truly realized.

Gippal exchanged amused grins with Baralai and knew that he was thinking along the same lines.

"But I must admit, Noojie...I'm a bit hurt. Why didn't you tell me you were going to the wedding? Surely you didn't want to go by yourself!" Leblanc pouted and watched Nooj's face closely.

"...We're both here now," Nooj answered after a moment. It was far from an adequate answer but Leblanc seemed happy as a clam.

"You're right, darling! Let's make the best of it. Just the two of us. We haven't had _any_ alone time!" She turned to look at the two men that were always seen with her. "Logos. Ormi. You two are free to do whatever you want until the rehearsal. Make sure to be on time, understood?"

"Yes boss!" the two chorused in unison and scuttled off.

Gippal chuckled to himself while he and Baralai watched the leader of the notorious Leblanc Syndicate drag her 'Noojie-Woojie' off. The Al Bhed turned to his friend. "So, what should we do? I haven't been in Luca in ages. Want to go sight seeing?"

Baralai nodded. "Sure. But first, let me go tell Mako." At Gippal's expression, he added, "She'll just _find_ us if I don't tell her where we're going."

He disappeared down the hall towards Mako and Paine's room. Gippal wandered over to a wide, partially open window that overlooked a portion of Luca. They weren't very high up but they were high enough to provide a spectacular view. Luca was built like a collection of ports, so the clear blue sea surrounded them on all sides. From Gippal's view, he could see a line of small shops lining the side of one docking area, the vendors calling out in loud voices to sell their items as each tried to out do the other. A large ship was docked and men were marching up and down the ramp carrying items like a line of ants. He could smell the salty sea breeze as it rustled lightly through the curtains. Somewhere, gulls could be heard squawking to one another followed by the loud wailing of a docking ship horn.

Gippal felt someone approaching him from behind. He turned thinking it was Baralai. He was surprised to find that it wasn't. It was Cid.

"Cid!" He cried, surprised to see the Al Bhed leader.

Cid was walking purposefully down the hall even though he seemed distracted by something. Gippal's voice startled him to a stop. "Eh? Who...oh! It's you! What are you doin' here, boy?"

Gippal frowned at being called 'boy' but didn't comment. "Same as you, I'd imagine, old man. I'm here for Yuna's wedding. Aren't you?"

"Of course I am!" Cid barked indignantly. "I'm walking her down the aisle! Why else would I be here?"

"Okay, okay. No need to freak out," Gippal said, holding his hands up as if to fend Cid off. He smirked after a moment. "You nervous?"

"Nervous? Nervous about what? Giving my little niece away to that good-fer-nothin' Blitzball boy of hers? Give me a break!"

"Protective much? Yuna's a grown woman, Cid. She's saved Spira TWICE. If she can do that, I think you can walk her down an aisle to marry her off."

Cid grunted and crossed his arms stubbornly. So that was where Brother and Rikku got that look from... "You think you're so smart, don't you, boy?"

"Well...actually..." Gippal grinned. Cid didn't look amused. Sighing, Gippal patted the older Al Bhed on the shoulder comfortingly. "Come on, Cid. Cheer up. This is a HAPPY occasion! That means this is GOOD. Don't spoil it acting like a baby." He steered Cid towards the window he'd been looking out and gestured with his other hand. "Look around you! Do you think this is the place to be unhappy? Man, get out there and do some relaxing! But don't walk around sulking about Yuna getting hitched. You're only going to make yourself and everyone around you miserable. Trust me, Brother's doing enough of that."

Cid was quiet. Still, he seemed to take Gippal's words to heart. "Speaking of which, where is Brother?"

"Hmm? Oh, last I checked, he was still on the Celsius. Buddy's been trying to talk him into leaving and joining the rest of us. He's...uh...a bit upset about Yuna's wedding, as well."

"What?! He's lolligaggin' on the ship when his sorry ass should be down here getting ready for the wedding rehearsal? I'm gonna' go get him!" Cid growled, doing a complete 180 on the situation.

Gippal grinned again when he saw the change in attitude. "Yeah, you do that."

As Cid stormed off, Gippal heard him mutter, "First his cousin wants to get married young, then his sister goes running off on her own, and now he falls to pieces. Is this family goin' nuts?"

Gippal chuckled. Cid and his family were more hilarious than they knew.

"Sorry about that. I had to talk her out of actually going with us," Baralai said the moment he found Gippal.

The wedding rehearsal was in a few hours so they had some time to kill. As the two of them wandered around Luca, they talked, falling comfortably into their patterns of conversation and jokes. It felt so wonderful just to hang out that Gippal realized how much he had actually missed it. Now that life was so hectic being the head of the Machine Faction and with endless responsibilities piling onto his shoulders daily, it felt good to kick back and enjoy some time with a friend like any other person.

"So tell me, Baralai. I hear Paine's been going to Bevelle to help you out a lot now a days," Gippal slyly remarked, eyes twinkling at his friend. "Anything I should know?"

Baralai blushed a little. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on...you can tell me..." Gippal teased on. The young Praetor's reaction had piqued his curiosity. Was there something going on between Baralai and Paine? He'd only been joking!

"There's nothing to tell," Baralai insisted too quickly but was smiling to himself at some private thought. Gippal gave him a dubious glance. Right. Of course there wasn't anything to tell.

"Gippal! Baralai! You made it!"

They both turned to find the bride waving to them as she came walking to them. Following her was her maid of honor Lulu and Lulu's family: husband Wakka who was holding their two-year-old son Vidina. Yuna smiled beautifully and bowed her head. Gippal chuckled to himself. Always the polite one, Spira's 'savior' was.

"You're looking well, Yuna," Baralai respectfully stated.

"As are you, Baralai. I'm glad to see that you've recovered," Yuna smiled brightly and then turned to Gippal. "How are you, Gippal?"

"Wonderful! I can't believe I'm actually at a celebrity wedding!" He gave her his trademark grin that most described as cocky or arrogant. But Yuna, who was used to it from their long association, only smiled wider.

"I'm honored that you two came," she said with a bow of her head. Then she motioned to Lulu and Wakka. "You remember Lulu and Wakka, don't you? Oh, and Vidina."

Gippal laughed and bounded forwards towards Wakka and Vidina. He'd met them a year ago on a trip to Besaid. "Of course! How could I forget such a cute little trooper?"

Wakka looked vaguely offended. "Hey now--"

"He was talking about Vidina, Wakka," Lulu inserted.

"O-Oh," Wakka's cheeks colored. Vidina giggled playfully as Gippal tickled him.

"So after tomorrow is the big day. You must be excited," Baralai was saying to Yuna.

"Oh yes. Very excited...and a bit nervous," Yuna smiled and began toying with her necklace slightly, a nervous habit that Gippal had noticed that she had from the first time they'd met.

"Ah, what's there to be nervous about? You're going to be beautiful, ya?" Wakka piped up.

"Wakka's right, Yuna. No use worrying now. Let's go get ready for the wedding rehearsal," Lulu added in her husky, quiet voice.

Yuna nodded, another peaceful smile on her face. "You're right. Thank you. Yes, let's go." She bowed again to Gippal and Baralai. "I will see you two at the rehearsal."

As she left, Gippal grinned at his friend. "You know, sometimes it's STILL hard to believe that little thing took down two of the biggest baddies to ever threaten this planet."

Baralai just laughed and they continued on their tour.


	5. Chapter Four

A/N: Special thanks to Lttlwings for the only review for chapter three. You rule. :)

Chapter Four

A busted Energy Coil in the engine had delayed their trip to Luca. About half an hour since their departure from the Calm Lands, suddenly a light came on warning them that there was some sort of malfunction in the engine. Upon seeing this, Elsion had immediately set the ship down in an empty field just north of Macalania woods where, luckily, there was a small settlement. The two of them set to work to fix their transport.

Rikku had been around machina her entire life. She knew instinctively which parts to use, which were damaged, what to put together, and so forth. And though there were many Al Bhed who were far superior to her in skill with machina, Rikku could proudly and with no arrogance whatsoever count herself amongst the best. So when she very expertly and quickly assessed what the problem was, she found Elsion staring at her in awe.

"Didn't know you were so good with these ol' things," he commented as he rubbed the back of his neck. They were crouched in front of an anti-gravity generator that had its protective covering unscrewed and lying discarded off to the side. As Rikku had suspected, one of the main components, a metal coil that converted energy to the generator to supply support to the ship, had been burnt out.

Rikku grinned. "I'm an Al Bhed. We live for machina."

Elsion smiled and stood, now frowning pensively at the mess that had been the generator coil. "I see. Well, it looks like we know what the problem is. Now how do we fix it?"

The hatch to the ship was open. They walked down the ramp side by side and peered out to the massive barren field that was spread out before them on all sides. Strangely, the earth here was a fair, pale color and the farther the distance, the whiter the ground seemed to be. Rikku shaded her eyes and squinted to get a better look at the tiny dot that didn't blend in with the rest of the ash white field a good distance away from them.

"There's a little village near here. See it? There!" Rikku pointed the tiny speck in the horizon out to Elsion. "Tell you what, I'll go see if I can scrounge up what we need. Someone there should have something if the place is so far out of everyone's way. Why don't you run a quick diagnostic on the rest of the airship to make sure everything else is okay?"

"Yes ma'am," Elsion said, smiling gently at her slightly authoritative tone.

Rikku gave him a confident smirk. "We'll be out of here in no time. Leave it to me!"

And she was off. Running across a field twice in a single day. Too bad there wasn't a friendly Chocobo willing to swing by and give her a ride here!

Not that she minded. Rikku was a bit excited to be entering a new place. It was one of the things that made her journey throughout Spira worthwhile. She got to see all sorts of places and meet all sorts of people that she would have never met if she'd been content with staying still in one location. Spira had changed so much in the last two years that Rikku wanted to explore every bit of it to see it as it grew brighter and brighter with each day.

_Wow..._She reflected at that thought.

Two years. Had it really been two whole years since everything had happened? It was hard to believe that only two years ago the Gullwings had descended deep into the heart of Spira to battle the monstrous Vegnagun and to watch the touching reunion of Shuyin and Lenne. Much had happened since then with the Gullwings, now scattered living their own lives.

Yuna was living in Besaid with Tidus beside Lulu and Wakka. The two of them had rarely been seen apart once they'd been reunited after so long. Naturally, the couple needed a lot of alone time so Rikku did her best to give it to them even if she found herself missing hanging out with them. Paine had started talking to Baralai, Nooj, and Gippal again. After all the drama the four of them had gone through during the Crimson Squad training, Den of Woe, and the Vegnagun fiasco, they finally decided that it was time to let bygones be bygones. They were healing the breach between their friendship.

And Rikku...well, she had felt...out of place. It didn't bother her at first. She had not had anything specific planned for herself but whatever her next adventure with the Gullwings would be. But seeing as the Gullwings had wandered off in their own directions, Rikku found herself adrift until a heated argument with her idiot brother Brother sparked an idea for her to travel Spira by herself, not for any purpose other than to enjoy it. Privately, the idea had come out of a need to prove to the others that she was capable of taking care of herself without any help. She needed to prove it to herself even if it wasn't going to be easy.

However, Rikku found that she did enjoy the freedom of answering to no one and not having to meet anyone's expectations but her own. In the first months it had been hard. Rikku had not been used to being on her own for prolonged periods of time; she'd always had Yuna, Paine, or someone with her or nearby. Soon, though, Rikku began to grow used to watching her own back. She had to learn a few things the hard way. That had not been fun but Rikku knew those experiences had made her a stronger person. In her own eyes if not anyone else's.

"The lone Gullwing spreads her wings," Amira had quite accurately summed it up when Rikku had told her all about it once. Rikku smiled. Yes, that was a perfect description.

"Wintervella," Rikku read when she saw the cheerful green sign, snapping out of her reverie. So the village was called Wintervella. Appropriate play on words as the place looked as if a blanket of snow covered the ground.

The most impressive thing about the village was the unusual architecture. Most of Spira preferred the simple dome shaped homes as they did in Besaid or the huts in Kilika. In Wintervella, each dwelling was a mess of interesting geometric shapes: pyramids, cubes, cylinders. No two buildings looked alike. The people of the village obviously thought nothing of the lovely structures as they just went about their lives with neither a thought nor second glance at them. Rikku, on the other hand, found herself staring in awe.

"I see you enjoy our architecture, miss," a gravelly voice suddenly said.

Rikku turned. She found a short, elderly man standing a little distance behind her, smiling gently as he leaned against his cane. "It's very...different."

The man smiled again, an odd twinkle in his bright blue eyes. "Oh yes. The artisans of Wintervella were not shy with their creativity when they first built this place."

Her eyes traced the shape angles of the various shapes making up the buildings. "It's incredible. I've never seen anything like it!"

The elderly man smiled. "I wouldn't doubt that. The artisans that designed these magnificent homes before you came here hoping to find a place where their artistic nature could be appreciated more thoroughly. The rest of Spira simply did not seem ready for their art yet."

"That's too bad," Rikku said honestly. She noticed a particularly large building that was not designed like the rest. In fact, it looked similar to the how the temples were designed.

"Is that...a temple?"

"It was supposed to have been. The priests of Yevon wanted to make that a temple where the Summoners could stop by and pray to the Fayth and receive an Aeon. But it seems that was meant not to be."

"Why not?"

"It is said that that temple is...cursed. You see, it was built many, many years ago, even before Wintervella became what you see today. The priests of Yevon did not even discover of its existence until the system of temples had already been arranged throughout Spira. When they did find it out here in the middle of nowhere, they decided to renovate it into a temple. But..."

"What happened?"

"There were many unfortunate and unexplained accidents while it was under construction. The Cloister of Trials in particular is the site of many grisly deaths. There were so many people dying and getting hurt that they decided to abandon the project all together. Now it is simply a relic from our past that has become apart of Wintervella's myths."

She shivered as she stared at the temple. She was a bit creeped out by his story. When she felt the man's eyes on her she turned hesitantly to find him staring. "I apologize if it is rude, but I must ask. Are you an Al Bhed?"

"Yes..." Rikku answered and instinctively braced herself for words of condemnation. Though most on Spira accepted Al Bhed, there were those still who did not.

Fortunately, the man smiled. "I thought so. No need to worry, miss. You won't get any discrimination against you here. All is welcome to Wintervella. I just simply had to know seeing as I've never seen a set of eyes more beautiful than yours. Al Bhed eyes are the most unique and yours are simply astonishing."

Rikku blushed at the unexpected compliment. "Oh...I...um...th-thank you, Sir." She paused. "My name is Rikku."

He gave her another patient, wizened smile. "I am called many things but here, I am known as Kai so I'll have to ask you to call me by such. An honor to meet you, Rikku."

His introduction was kind of odd but Rikku didn't think much of it. It seemed Wintervella wasn't much of a normal village either. Kai shuffled forward a few steps, supporting himself with the simply, roughly carved cane in his grasp. "So what brings you to our little village, Rikku?"

"Well, my friend and I are in a bit of a rut," Rikku answered. "Our airship broke down so I was hoping to find a shop that may have some parts we need. Does Wintervella have a shop with some machina parts?"

She fervently hoped so. Wintervella was so out of place and isolated that it wouldn't surprise her if they hadn't even heard of machina. But she was surprised.

"You're in luck, then. There's a Junk Shop that just opened recently by a pair of Al Bhed brothers. It's right over there. They should have the parts you need," Kai motioned with his unused hand towards a small building concocted of navy and teal blocks that were creatively arranged in a lovely pattern that ran along all sides. On the archway of the entrance was a sign that read: **Machineheads: Machina Parts and Supplies**.

"Ooh! That's perfect! Thanks a lot, Kai!" Rikku exclaimed.

Kai gave her another of his thin-lipped smiles. "You're very welcome, my dear. Enjoy your stay in Wintervella. We love visitors."

She smiled at him and walked away. She made a mental note to herself to stop by Wintervella again the next time she was in the area. There was no time now but this was definitely a place she wanted to explore some more. It seemed like an interesting village.

A bell chimed pleasantly as Rikku entered the Junk Shop. She paused at the doorway and looked around. It wasn't a very big shop. There was an abundance of machina, though. Along the left wall were a line of incomplete machina drones and bins filled with parts to repair them. Shelves filled with more bins of screws and drone parts lined the walls on both sides. There was even a little yellow and blue machina perched on the counter, staring at Rikku with round bright green circular eyes.

"Greetings, Customer Number 1037. Welcome to Machineheads. I am Greeting Machina designated model TS-12," it announced in a dull monotone.

Rikku was surprised. It talked! She hadn't come across a machina that talked yet even though she known it was possible to give them the capability. Whoever owned this shop had obviously taken advantage of that.

"Hi, uh, Greeting Machina," she answered while walking towards the counter.

"You may call me 'Blabbermouth' as it is the name specified by 'Sir' and 'Master'."

"Sounds like some nice guys if they name you 'Blabbermouth'," Rikku wryly said, smiling despite herself.

The blue door that was to the right of the counter slid open suddenly. A man emerged, dressed in a light tan body suit and black dark boots and gloves. A pair of worn goggles was precariously tucked on his sandy reddish hair and his skin was bronzed, most likely from an abundance of sunlight. Rikku knew him. It was Rahga, a comical, yet tough man that worked for her father. He'd even worked with Rikku before when they'd been combing Bikanel together for machina parts and been tracking Summoners on their pilgrimages years ago.

"—zicd dyga ed ayco, ugyo? Syh, oui'na mega y pek pypo. E DUMT oui hud du ayd dryd..." Rahga was saying to someone in the back room. He trailed off when he turned and noticed her. He started. "Fruy! Rikku? Ec dryd oui?" **[**--just take it easy, will ya'? Man, you're like a big baby. I TOLD you not to eat that...**]** **[**Whoa! Rikku? Is that you?**]**

Rikku smiled. "Rao Rahga. Ed'c paah y frema." **[**Hey Rahga. It's been a while.**]**

Rahga laughed and seized her in a jovial hug. "Hell yeah, it's been! Come here!"

He swung her around like he'd always done when she was a little girl and then placed her down, looking her over. "You've done grown up, girl! Look at you!"

"Master, your command of Customer Number 1037 us illogical as it is impossible. Customer Number 1037 cannot look upon herself as her human eyes can only look at a certain portion of her body. She would need a mirror, and you and Sir do not have any mirrors currently--"

"Blabbermouth, can it before I deactivate you again," Rahga growled at the little robot.

"That is the fifty seventh time you have threatened to deactivate me this week since the last time you did so."

"Blabbermouth--"

"Luckily, Sir recently installed the file 'Fear' into my program. Therefore I shall cease to converse until the time is appropriate."

Rahga was glaring vehemently at the little drone. "Stupid Orric. He just HAD to put a personality chip into the damn little bugger..."

Rikku giggled. Rahga was just as she remembered him. "It's good to see you again, Rahga. I didn't know you and Orric were into the retailing business."

He shrugged. "Well with the Eternal Calm and everything, we figured why not? We found this cozy little place and they encouraged us to open the Junk Shop. The people here don't know much about machina but they love to learn so we have a pretty steady clientele."

"That's good to hear."

"So what brings you here? Shouldn't you be in Luca for your cousin's wedding?"

Rikku nodded. "I was on my way, actually. But my friend's airship broke down a little outside of Wintervella so I came looking for parts." She smiled. "And I found you guys!"

Rahga smiled. "And what is it that you need exactly? Cables? Accelerator crystals?"

"An Energy Coil for a J-type SF-Falcon 24."

He looked surprised. "An old model airship, huh? We have some of those here somewhere..."

The older Al Bhed walked past her and to a large bin near another deactivated machina drone. He rummaged through it, making pieces clank and thump against one another. "You know, funny that you should show up here."

"Why's that?"

"Because Orric and I were going to head to Luca to see YOU. Well, your old man actually but you'd probably be more interested in what we had to say."

"For what? Did you guys find something out on the dig?" Rikku knew the two of them had been under orders from Cid to search for anything that they could use to repair Home, which was still going on with slow progress. The brothers were two the biggest supporters in Cid's decision rebuild the old Al Bhed settlement. They'd even drawn up some of the design plans to fix it.

"Yeah. But it has nothing to do with Home," Rahga said and then stood again. In his hand was a new Energy Coil, glinting a metallic blue in the sunlight filtering through the window. "Here you are, kiddo. An Energy Coil as good as new."

Rikku took the part. "Thanks. How much?"

"Well, since you're the favorite of all my Al Bhed girls, I'll give you a huge discount," he answered and led her back to the counter where the silent Blabbermouth was watching them. Rahga was good on his word and charged her a measly three hundred gil for a part that would have easily cost over two thousand gil elsewhere.

"Thanks, Rahga. You're awesome," Rikku said as she handed over the money.

"No problem, kiddo. You know I love you."

She smiled. "So what did you find? Would you like for me to take it to Pop and save you the trip?"

"Like I said, you'd probably be more interested in it since it's a sphere."

Caught off guard, Rikku blinked. "A sphere?"

"Yeah. It's really old too. You're still sphere hunting, right?"

"Sort of. I'm kind of travelling for the heck of it now."

"Oh...well, would you like it anyway? We don't have a use for it."

Rikku nodded. "Sure...why not?"

"Okay then. Wait here, I'll go get it. I think Orric left it back in the storage room somewhere. Go back and say hi to Orric if you want," Rahga's lips thinned into a displeased line. "He's sick. That's why we ended up going back here instead of straight to Luca. The idiot ate a sandwich that was lying out in the sun all day when I TOLD him it was bad!"

The last part had been intentionally spoken in a louder voice so Orric could hear. Rikku giggled when an indignant reply came from the back room, "You could have TOLD ME before I ate it!"

"I did!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Rikku laughed outright. They reminded her of herself and Brother. Rahga disappeared into the storage room and she walked to the back and chatted with a pale Orric who was curled up on a bed, holding his stomach. Rahga tapped her on the shoulder when he returned.

"Here you are," He said depositing a green sphere into her hand. She gave it a quick appraisal. He hadn't been kidding. This was a really old sphere, far older than any of the ones she had found with Yuna and Paine. It was probably once a luminous glowing green but now it barely gave off anything more than a dull green shine and there were tiny webs of cracks all over it. In its center, Rikku could barely make out a strange symbol that showed that someone had owned it once many years ago. 

"Have you watched it yet?" Rikku held it up to the light to see if she could decipher the symbol out more.

Rahga nodded. "Yup. Can't make heads or tails of it, though. It's pretty banged up so the message isn't clear. We didn't know what it was. Probably some old diary or something the guy kept." He frowned. "He said sure said some strange things on it though. Ah well, it's yours now."

"Thanks. I'll take a look at it later," Rikku have Rahga a hug and punched Orric lightly on the shoulder. "Take care, guys! And thanks again!"

"Bye kiddo! Say hi to old Ciddy-boy for us. Tell him we'll get back to work as soon as the idiot gets better," Rahga called after her when she was leaving, items secured in her arms.

"I told you it wasn't my fault!" Rikku heard Orric protest as she swiftly made her way out of the Junk Shop.

On her way out of the village, she spotted Kai standing beside the gate where he had been when they met. He gave her a toothy grin and raised a hand to wave. She waved back. She recalled their conversation and craned her head around to see the ominous temple looming over Wintervella one more time.

A chill came running down her spine. She tried reassuring herself. _Probably just a story they tell outsiders and gullible tourists. There's probably nothing in there. Besides, it's not like they have to worry about people going in there now that Sin's gone. Hurry it up, Rikku! You have to get to Yunie's wedding!_

She pushed the thought of the temple to the back of her mind and focused on her main objective at the present. She had to get back to Elsion and the airship fast. She couldn't miss Yuna's wedding rehearsal when she was one of her cousin's bride's maids!


	6. Chapter Five

A/N: Special thanks to iridescentwings and Lenneia! Your reviews made me happy. I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Chapter Five

The wedding was going to take place on one of the long, wide areas that was where—as Paine told him—the Gullwings had first met the Leblanc Syndicate and battled to get back the Songstress Dressphere that Leblanc had stolen. Gippal and Baralai watched as the final preparations were put into place. The empty, wide platform had been transformed: a white carpet had been laid to extend from one end to the other where a slightly raised stage was set for whoever was going to marry Yuna and Tidus. Row after row of white chairs were set up on both sides of the long white carpet. All around them were flowers from all over Spira, most of them gifts to the High Summoner in wishing her and her husband-to-be a happy marriage. All of this was on the backdrop of an endless turquoise ocean and a clear blue sky. It would be beautiful.

Gippal and Baralai were watching the final preparations of the wedding rehearsal from a small café that lay opposite to the wedding site. They'd had a nice, peaceful few hours of wandering Luca together. They'd gone to every interesting place and fallen back into their comfortable level of camaraderie even if their conversations got a bit awkward sometimes. After being thoroughly destroyed by some kids in a few games of Sphere Break, the two of them had decided to stop playing while they had coins left and decided to go have some tea together.

"An hour until show time," Gippal said after checking the time. Good. He was starting to grow restless with all of this waiting. There was only so much you could do to kill time.

"Is she here yet?"

He glanced up when he heard Yuna's voice. She and Paine were standing nearby talking. Paine shook her head. "No. She called from an airship on the CommSphere and said she was on her way. They had some problems but it's fixed. They're almost here."

Yuna smiled. "Good. It'll be good to see her again. It's been such a long time..."

Paine nodded, surprisingly smiling herself. "Believe it or not, I've missed her constant chattering too."

The High Summoner laughed. "Don't let her hear you say that. Or else you'll never hear the end of it."

"Oh I know. Consider this a moment of weakness. As soon as she gets here, I'll be annoyed all over again."

"You two talking about Cid's brat?" Gippal called out to them.

"She should be here soon," Yuna confirmed.

"Good," He grinned. "It'll be good to see the little chatterbox again. She been in touch?"

"Not really. She gives us a call once in a while. Just to let us know she's still alive basically. Then we don't hear from her for months at a time."

By the look on her face, Gippal knew this worried her. He couldn't blame her. He'd grown up with Rikku. Though she was capable, the thought of her out in the wide world on her own was not a comforting notion. A number of things could happen and they'd never know. That thought made his heart skip a beat.

"Paine, do you know where Mako is?" Baralai asked suddenly, rising from his seat.

"Last I checked, she was back at the hotel."

"Thank you. I need to talk to her about something. Excuse me."

The young Praetor smiled at them and left the table. Gippal scooped his teacup up and drained the rest in one gulp. "Well, ladies. Seeing as Baralai just ditched me and Nooj is off with Leblanc, I guess you're stuck with me."

"Oh. The joy," Paine deadpanned.

As it turned out, Rikku barely made it to the rehearsal. They'd waited for as long as they could but as the minutes ticked by, Gippal could see Yuna growing nervous. She couldn't miss her own wedding rehearsal, after all.

"Come on. Let's just go. When Rikku gets here, she'll find us easily enough," Paine suggested when they had a mere ten minutes left. She frowned disappointedly up at the sky and then turned. She really had been looking forward to seeing Rikku.

Yuna reluctantly nodded and began following her. Gippal started to do the same. Then, he heard it. Years of working with machina gave him the ability to identify an airship when he heard one. He turned and grinned when he saw the speck in the sky coming towards Luca, getting bigger and bigger as it neared. Could it be...?

It was. The airship swooped down low, hovering in the clear opening for a moment as the landing gear came into place. The bright white-blue flames of the thrusters could be seen shooting wildly from the bottom of the airship as they slowed the landing. Warm gusts of wind came hurtling past Gippal and the girls. He heard the whine of the engine as it lost power and came to rest.

"Right on time," Paine said at the distinctive little figure that was revealed to be standing behind the hatch door as it slowly lowered into a ramp. Even from the short distance in which they were standing, Gippal could see the sunny smile light Rikku's face. She was waving and all ready running towards them.

"Hey there!" She called ahead, dashing down the ramp. Yuna and Paine both surprised Gippal when they surged past him eagerly to meet her. Rikku laughed loudly as Yuna enveloped her in a hug. Paine was dragged reluctantly into it when Rikku grabbed her by the arm.

"Rikku! It's been so long!" Yuna said as she stepped back to look her cousin up and down. "You look...different."

Rikku blinked and took a casual glance down at herself before meeting her cousin's eyes again. "Do I? Well, I have grown taller from what my friend Amira tells me!"

"Still loud as ever," Paine blandly said but with a smile.

Rikku poked her in the arm, "Pimmo!" **[**Bully!**]**

"Well, well, well, look who it is!" Gippal cheerily spoke up as he sauntered towards them. Rikku looked confused for a second when she didn't see anybody but then looked over Paine's shoulder and her eyes widened.

"Gippal!"

"How ya' doing, Cid's girl?"

She smiled. "I have a naaammmeee!"

He grinned and pulled her into a friendly hug. She DID look different, though not by much. Even as her lithe, little body was pressed against him, he could feel the taunt, wiry strength of her arms squeeze his waist. She had filled out a little more in the two years she'd traveled Spira alone from the looks of it. There was no trace of the awkward little girl going through growth spurts and puberty anymore. And she'd cut her hair a little, which surprised Gippal. As a child, Rikku had always wanted to grow her hair as long as she could.

She had blossomed beautifully in that short span of two years, he noted with a smile.

Rikku thumped him on his arm and stepped back. He felt a quick flash of disappointment for some reason but grinned at her as she spoke. "I see you haven't changed. It's good to see you too, you big meanie."

Then she turned her attention back to Yuna and Paine. The three of them began talking animatedly, Rikku demanding details of the wedding and of the others while they in return asked her more about her journey, where she had gone, what she had done. The four of them hurried to the wedding rehearsal talking the entire way.

Most of the guests were already in their chairs and waiting. The platform was abuzz with activity. Nooj was sitting ramrod in his seat as an adoring Leblanc had her hands all over him. Ormi and Logos were behind them. Gippal spotted Baralai and Mako in their seats nearby as well. He wondered vaguely if Mako had scouted the site yet to make sure that there weren't any booby traps or bombs planted that might harm Baralai.

"Look who decided to come back and visit, ya?" Wakka cheerfully said in a loud voice as he spotted them.

"Wakka!" Rikku waved enthusiastically and ran forward to greet him and Lulu. She immediately saw little Vidina in his mother's arms, "Oh my...is that Vidina? Wow, he's grown!"

Lulu chuckled. "You've grown yourself."

Each time some old acquaintance of Rikku's ran into her the conversation ran along in the same lines as greeting, gushing of how she'd changed, 'good to see you', and so forth. Gippal found himself watching her as she daintily chatted with each and every person that stopped to say hi. Of all the things he'd expected when seeing Rikku, he had not expected this...older version of her. In his mind, he still saw the little girl whose pigtails he used to pull and whose face would scrunch up into a pout as he teased her. He wasn't sure how he felt about this yet.

"TIDUS!" Rikku hollered suddenly and tackled the Blitzball player and soon to be groom when she spotted him.

Laughing, Tidus let himself be taken down and gave the energetic Al Bhed a hug. "It's good to see you too, Rikku! Whoa! Down girl!"

"Get used to it. You're going to be related to her soon," Paine bluntly said.

"Just what I wanted...my very own Rikku!" Tidus laughed and started tickling Rikku, who started laughing uncontrollably at the treatment. Yuna and Paine even traitorously helped him for a moment before they let her up. Gippal watched in amusement as she stuck her tongue at them.

"Grrr," Rikku playfully growled, wiping the tears that had sprung into her eyes from her hysterics.

Tidus fell into step beside Yuna and slid an arm around her waist. Rikku smiled widely while she looked around, "This is looking awesome! So what's the plan?"

"Hey now!" Wakka interrupted suddenly, squeezing between Tidus and Yuna to separate them. "None of that yet, ya? The rehearsal should be starting soon so you two love birds need to get into your positions."

Gippal chuckled to himself and slid into his seat beside Baralai and Mako. Lulu, Yuna's maid of honor, had whisked the bride and her two bride's maids off to prepare. The plan—from what Gippal knew--was to have the rehearsal, then the traditional day of separation for the bride and groom where the rest of the wedding arrangements would be completed, and then the big day. Weddings weren't exactly the most exciting things in Gippal's book, but it gave him a brief vacation from his work as the Machine Faction Leader so he was all too happy to be there.

He slumped down in his seat slightly as the orchestra began strumming the first chords of the music that would undoubtedly be playing throughout the upcoming wedding. It went by surprisingly fast and painlessly. Paine had informed him that a former Yevon priest would be the one blessing Yuna and Tidus' marriage. Apparently he was an old, trusted friend of Yuna's father Lord Braska. He'd been the only man that had cared for the young Yuna in the period following Braska's death and Kimahri's arrival to take her to Besaid.

Gippal stood, stretching his arms, glad to be able to move after sitting in the chair watching as the wedding director—a short, plump woman named Ereia—scurried about telling this person to go here, how that vase of flowers was too far left, the music was too slow, or...the list went on and on. Yuna took a moment to thank everyone for their patience and bid them to have a good time in Luca. The wedding was only a day away now. He saw the High Summoner smile gently to her soon-to-be husband and grinned in spite of himself at the display. He wasn't much of a romantic but those two...it was strangely heart warming to see the aura of sadness that was usually associated with Yuna be dispelled by the blond Blitzer.

"So, what are your plans for the day, Gippal?" Baralai asked.

Gippal shrugged. "Haven't thought about it. Probably gonna' go check on our little present to the lovebirds to make sure everything's good. Why? What are you going to do?"

"Well, I--" Baralai broke off when Mako abruptly stepped from beside him and halfway in front of him. It was a discreet, almost casual move, but Gippal knew that it meant something was making her uncomfortable and this was a way to ensure Baralai's safety. Gippal blinked at the sharpened, suspicious expression that had suddenly appeared on her face. It took a few seconds to realize that she wasn't glaring at him but at something behind him.

He craned his head around to find a raven-haired, scantily clad woman marching very purposefully towards them. Flanking her were a small group of men wearing identical navy uniforms sporting a silver-lined insignia. She smiled, not so much as a friendly one but a vicious one that reminded Gippal of what a gleeful fiend looked like before it devoured you.

Now he knew why Mako was suddenly so tense. It was Malokness, the second in command of the Lockheart Coalition. The Lockheart Coalition was a political faction that had been recently making waves throughout Spira. Though it had been formed during the time of the Machine Faction, Youth League, and New Yevon, it had not started getting much attention until now. Their leader was a man named Malakai that made appearances so rarely that it was rumored that he did not even exist. In any case, the Coalition was starting to turn heads with their tireless campaigns to 'rebuild' and 'cleanse' Spira, whatever that meant.

For whatever reason, the Coalition did not agree particularly with New Yevon. It was a strong suspicion that it had been this very secretive organization that had been behind the assassination attempt on Baralai. But there had been no evidence whatsoever to prove this. The Lockheart Coalition had even offered to help in the investigation to bring the culprits to justice despite their conflicts with New Yevon. They had sent their sincere condolences for those who'd been killed in the unfortunate incident.

In any case, it seemed to Gippal that Mako didn't give a damn about the Coalition's "sincerity" at the moment. She seemed to be resisting the urge to reach for her gun, safely tucked in its holster at her waist. She was one of the many who believed that the Coalition was responsible.

"Greetings! Praetor Baralai, it warms my heart to see you up and about again!" the woman purred as she approached.

Gippal saw Baralai gently place a placating hand on his sister's arm for a second as he stepped around her. "Good afternoon to you, Lady Malokness. You are most kind."

"I am glad to see that you were able to take time off to attend Lady Yuna's wedding," Malokness continued airily. "A most deserved vacation, I'd imagine, seeing as you've done SO much for New Yevon, young praetor."

The tiny trace of sarcasm in her last statement would have probably resulted in Mako very justifiably separating the woman's head from her body had Baralai not smoothly shifted his weight so that he were standing directly in front of her. Gippal saw his friend nod stiffly and give a tight-lipped smile. "I do what I can, milady. I am sorry that not all agree with how I try to run business in _my_ faction."

"Oh well you know how it is...no one can agree on anything these days," she said as she examined a perfectly manicured hand. "But you know the saying: bad leaders make bad decisions. Something you don't have to worry about though, I can assure you. I mean, there's more than enough good leaders on Spira for you to talk to..."

"Is there really?" Mako spoke up at last, not even bothering to hide her dislike of the woman. "Well, why bother the 'good leaders' when they can send their lowly lapdogs in their stead?"

Malokness' eyes flashed dangerously and her guards were clearly displeased. "You'd dare..."

Again, Baralai interrupted before this exploded into a fight. "Forgive her, Lady. Mako has a vicious sense of humor. Not many people, uh, grasp the humor part. She means no harm. Now if you'll excuse us...I'd like to have a few words with the bride..."

"Of course," Malokness said tightly, eyes locked with Mako still. The animosity between the two women was like a stifling white-hot anger that choked the atmosphere. Gippal half expected one of them to attack even with Baralai physically acting as a barricade between them.

"I suppose I will leave you then, Praetor Baralai. Good to see you again," Malokness' voice oozed with honey. She bowed ever graciously and with a cold look in Mako's direction, swept off with her guards. Through out the entire exchange, she had not even glanced in Gippal's direction at all. It was not a rumor that the Lockheart Coalition despised the Al Bhed; it was a fact.

"Pedlr," Gippal grumbled. **[**Bitch**]**

The three of them watched her stroll down the crowded carpet of Yuna's wedding and make her way through the throng of guests. Baralai's pensive face made Gippal frown. The young praetor was unnerved by the encounter.

"You know," he heard Mako murmur to her brother, "we wouldn't have this problem if only you'd let me--"

"NO, Mako," Baralai said in the sternest voice Gippal had ever heard him use and turned away.

Mako submitted with a nod but still muttered, "I fail to see the loss it would be to Spira..."

Gippal couldn't agree more. Every encounter he'd had with Malokness had been less than pleasant. Shrugging the little confrontation off, he pushed it to the back of his mind and focused on enjoying the rest of his stay in Luca. He didn't want to have his mini-vacation ruined by politics and people like Malokness and her damned Lockheart Coalition.

Too bad this wouldn't be the last time Malokness popped up to make his life turn to hell.

A/N: On a side note, if any familiar words or names come up from other Final Fantasy games, it's on purpose (Like Mako, from FF7). I'm trying to keep to Square Enix's tradition of reusing names in creative ways. Thanks! R/R!


	7. Chapter Six

A/N: As always, to my darling reviewers:

**Naith**: Glad you're enjoying it! ::holds German flag and happily waves::

**Tamelia**: Thanks a lot. I love YOU for reviewing. Hee hee.

**Lttlwings**: ::blushes:: Aww shucks. Your compliments mean a lot because I did put a lot of planning into this. Thanks so much for keeping an eye on it. :)

Chapter Six

Rikku laughed as Lulu and Yuna harassed Paine into the bride's maid dress. It was the same dress she and Lulu would be wearing but it seemed to look lovelier on Paine, probably because any other time the warrior would rather be caught dead than in a dress. Even now as Lulu circled her, Paine was glaring very unhappily at the black mage. The shimmering pale white and blue hue of the dress fell perfectly across Paine's curves but she seemed to grow hostile if anyone commented on it.

"Now this I thought I'd NEVER see!" Rikku whispered to Yuna, who giggled in response.

It was the day just before the wedding, the traditional period where the bride would be separated from her groom for an entire day before their lives became forever entwined. The girls had spent the day together, distracting Yuna so she wouldn't go running looking for Tidus. They'd mostly ensured that everything was in place and that all the wedding arrangements were accurate. Yuna was excited and nervous but Rikku had never seen her cousin happier.

"So what is the great best man Wakka doing for Tidus?" Rikku asked Lulu.

The older woman rolled her eyes. "He's taking him out, partying on his 'last night of freedom'."

They laughed.

It was fun spending a day with the girls. Rikku hadn't realized how much she had missed it as much as she enjoyed traveling now. When she had first set out on her own, it had been lonely and a little intimidating. Many times, she'd almost gone running home. But eventually she grew used to the loneliness. She'd learned to look after herself and really see what she could really do, which turned out to be more than she thought possible. Still, there were times that she wished the rest of the Gullwings were around.

"It fits. Satisfied?" Paine growled at Lulu as she circled her to examine the dress again.

"I am now. Okay, your turn, Rikku."

"Aww...do I gotta'?"

"Yes. If I had to, you do too," Paine insisted.

Giggling, Rikku bounced to her feet. "Okay, okay. Relax, _Dr. P_."

Once Lulu was happy, the four of them were free to do as they pleased. Lulu went to get Vidina from Wakka. Yuna and Paine went on a walk around Luca as they'd not had any free time to do so since getting there. They'd asked Rikku to come but she had remembered that she had forgotten to get the presents for Yuna to the table where the gifts for the couple were set up.

She found her way back to the hotel and slipped into her room. Hmm...maybe she'd take a nice, relaxing bath while she was at it. It'd been a while since she'd been able to have a bubble bath. It was a tempting prospect.

She froze mid action in closing the door when she heard a strange sound filling the silence in her room. Immediately, the twin blades of her Thief Dressphere appeared in each hand. How had someone gotten into her room? Slowly, Rikku cautiously inched forward, treading step by step silently across the thick emerald colored carpet. She pressed herself against the wall that sharply turned off into her room where the intruder was.

Strange...Rikku frowned as the voice became louder with every step she made into the room. Was it just her or did it sound like there was...static? And the voice...it wasn't loud or clear at all. It was as if someone was talking from far away, slightly muffled and almost indistinct.

Rikku stood perfectly still, her back still pressed against the wall. Her breathing was soft and inaudible to any but her own ears; a skill she'd learned after venturing into a countless number of caves filled with hungry fiends. She tensed herself for combat. Then, gripping her blades tightly in each hand, Rikku sprang out...

...to find nothing.

"Huh?" she asked aloud, confused. Her weapons were still raised in a defensively but just one look around told her that there was nothing in there besides her. And yet the strange, static-tinged voice still continued. But from where...?

_I don't' get it. Where is it coming from?_ Rikku peered around. The CommSphere? Nope, the CommSphere wasn't activated so this wasn't signal interference.

She tracked the sound to the other side of her bed where her bag lay on its side on the floor. It must have fallen when she'd carelessly tossed in onto the bed when she'd been introduced to her room. Strangely enough, it was also the source of the sound.

Feeling slightly foolish for being so paranoid and now curious, Rikku dismissed her blades and reached for the discarded backpack. She unlatched the top flap and peeped inside. Yuna's presents were undisturbed but they were aglow in a faint green light.

Rikku realized what it was. _Of course! Rikku you tisso, it's the sphere! _dummy

She grabbed it and pulled in out of the bag to get a better look at it. There was a fuzzy image of a middle-aged man with a strangely familiar face and voice. The cracks and dents in the sphere unfortunately hindered the image so Rikku couldn't make out his features clearly, but she had a feeling that they'd met somewhere before. The audio was also not in good shape, as she could barely make out the few words that had survived the damage done to the sphere.

"Hmm...let's see this from the beginning..." she muttered to herself and carefully turned the sphere in her hands. She turned it off and then back on. The haunting image of the man reappeared. It seemed he was standing in a cavern of some sort, but in the background, Rikku could clearly make out the distorted sound of water crashing against water, an underground waterfall perhaps?

The man reached out and adjusted the angle of the sphere recorder, still peering into it with his bright gaze. He smiled, mouthing something that Rikku couldn't hear as the sound was blurred and jumped right into a mess of words.

"..._not sure...anyone...see...but I have....tale....history as legend...never heard...do...anyway...enchantment...standing...Spira does not even...existed...underground city...unheard...this city...Eteragard, the Eternal City..."_

It seemed that the account ended there, but from what she had heard, Rikku found herself fascinated. As the speaker had spoken, he'd held the sphere recorder out and rotated it around so that he could catch images of wherever it was he was standing. It was a cavern like she had guessed. He was standing beside a small waterfall that dribbled down from an opening in the cavern ceiling into a pool.

Beyond where the speaker was standing and the pool, though, was what captivated Rikku's interest. For spread out in the large cavern there was a city. But it didn't look like any small settlement but a cluttered, active collection of brightly lit buildings and streets with people wandering all over them, chattering and going about their business. It was like the Zanarkand Rikku remembered seeing in the image that Yuna's Songstress Dressphere had conjured during the song she sang in the Thunder Plains two years back, recounting the tragic ending of Lenne and Shuyin.

The lights of the city—Eteragard, from what the speaker had said—bathed the dark gray cavern walls in a light, warm golden glow. Despite the cramped space in the cavern, Eteragard seemed to spread for a long, long way back into the depths beyond. Rikku blinked. Was this real?

The image began jumping violently and the audio completely turned into static. Rikku was about to turn the sphere off to reactivate what she'd seen again when something clamped down on her shoulder.

"RIKKU!"

Her response to this was built from pure instinct. Before she even knew what she was doing, her hand had shot up, grabbed the offending hand on her shoulder and pried the fingers away. With a sharp twist of her wrist, she ducked her head and yanked hard.

"AHHHHH!!!!" The wild scream was heard as a body came hurtling headfirst right over her shoulder and tumbling clumsily into the hard leg of the table. Rikku had already leapt to her feet and was moving backward to put distance between them. She heard a painful "Oomph!" and the sound of bone crashing into wood.

"Hey you, what's the...Brother?!" Rikku's jaw went slack when she recognized her older brother's crumpled form beside the table.

He made a painful moan in reply. She scurried over to him and helped him up by his arm. "What's the big deal sneaking up on me like that?"

"RIIIIKKKKUUUUUUU!" Brother whined. He had a hand on his back, rubbing at the spot where it'd slammed into the table leg. "That HURT!"

Rikku gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry. But you shouldn't have crept up on me like that! You could have been some big monster for all I know!"

"WHAT?" Brother made a face. "You think I'm a monster?" He reared back as if she'd struck him, then his lower lip jutted out, "Yuna! Yuna must think I'm a monster too!"

She shook her head and rolled her eyes as Brother started blubbering about Yuna this and Yuna that. Paine had already warned her beforehand that Brother was upset about the wedding. Rikku wasn't surprised. Brother had always held a disturbing, hopeless obsession with their cousin.

"Hey, cheer up!" Rikku clipped him playfully on the back of the head. "Don't I even get a hug? We haven't seen each other in months!"

Brother glanced up and suddenly threw himself at her, arms winding around her and lifting her up as he swung her around like Rahga had done earlier. "I know! You don't call! You don't visit!"

She laughed and hugged him back. "I've missed you too."

It was the truth. She had honestly missed him despite their constant bickering and differences. Rikku pulled away from him and grabbed the sphere, which had rolled under the bed when Brother had startled her.

"Eh? A sphere? You sphere hunting without me?!" Brother gave her his most offended look, but she rolled her eyes and waved a hand.

"Oh dry up. No, I haven't been sphere hunting. Rahga gave this to me. He and Orric found it in Bikanel when they were digging and thought that I'd want to see it."

"What's on it?"

"Nothing important really. It's old so the audio is messed up and the picture isn't clear. I think I'll have Eido take a look at it later. Maybe he can fix it up."

Rikku tucked the sphere carefully into one of her side packs and thought no more of it. Together the two of them found Cid, who gruffly greeted Rikku with a snort declaring that he was glad to see that she was 'done wandering by her lonesome and came to her senses to come home'. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she'd be picking up right where she left off on traveling Spira after the wedding was over. Instead, she just nodded and smiled, giving him a big hug.

She passed Yuna's presents off to the efficient, yet slightly neurotic wedding coordinator. Brother fired question after question and she patiently answered them, no matter how stupid they were, like "Did the weather change a lot on your trip?" or "Do you like fighting flan azul?". At least he wasn't babbling on miserably about Yuna anymore.

The next day was nothing short than hectic. An insistent pounding on her hotel room door woke Rikku early in the morning. She had sleepily trudged to the door to open it and found an excited and anxious Yuna on the other side, smiling brightly at her cousin. It took a moment for Rikku's sleep muddled mind to catch up. Of course! The wedding.

Yuna was more than excited. She was uncharacteristically talkative and chattered on and on about everything as she and Rikku met up with Paine and Lulu. It became a hectic morning of preparation. Lulu ushered them into the dressing room to get ready. While they dressed, they talked to reassure Yuna that everything would go smoothly. She smiled nervously, thanking them for the hundredth time for being there for her, and then commented on the color of the drapes and how she hoped she would be able to find a similar color for her and Tidus' house.

The wedding went by, thankfully, without any problems. Yuna looked absolutely radiant as she walked slowly down the aisle, clutching to a colorful bouquet of flowers while Cid gave her away. The pristine white gown seemed to glow in the cheery sunlight as it perfectly accentuated Yuna's figure, the long hem dragging behind her on the white carpet. Even through the sheer veil covering Yuna's face, Rikku could see the wide smile on her cousin's lips.

"Oh...she's so beautiful!" Rikku murmured to Paine and Lulu happily. The other women nodded their agreement. Rikku giggled softly when she saw the look of utter shock and joy that was plastered across Tidus' face at the sight of his bride.

It went by fast, surprisingly. Elwith, the former Yevon priest, spoke a few words about how he'd known Yuna and her father. Then he let the bride and groom exchange their vows, place the ceremonial wedding bands on each other's hand, and then pronounced them to be husband and wife. Everyone clapped. Rikku felt tears prick her eyes and her throat close up as they kissed for the first time as a married couple.

_I hope my wedding day will be like this._ She thought wistfully as Tidus and Yuna, hands joined, walked around the large fire alter set up nearby; it was a tradition to circle the fire alter to symbolize that no force could destroy the bond between the newlyweds.

"Come on, Rikku," Paine was saying suddenly. The guests were now abandoning their seats and making their way down to the hotel where the reception was being held in their massive ballroom. "Party time."

That was all Rikku needed to hear. "Let's go!"


	8. Chapter Seven

A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry about the delay. Thanks to Cute-kitty2, kingleby, and Tamelia for the feedback. I love you guys! On another note, I had to change my system of translating Al Bhed by using double parenthesis instead of the brackets. Anyone have an idea as to _why_ this damn document editor won't let us use brackets?

Chapter Seven

Gippal felt uncomfortable in the formal dress robe that he'd been forced to wear for the wedding. Baralai had had it made for him, as he'd known his Al Bhed's friend's lack of skills in the fashion area. He knew he looked good in it; the appreciative looks he was getting from several women was enough to prove that. Still, he was not used to wearing the thick, woven layers. As an Al Bhed, his mind and body were to be attuned to lighter clothing that agreed to the harsh conditions of the desert climate.

Baralai noticed his discomfort and smirked at him in amusement. "Something wrong, Gippal?"

"As if you need to ask," Gippal answered, lightly scratching his arm where the fabric was raising hell on his skin. He'd probably have an unattractive rash on his arm if he didn't stop pawing at it like he was. "How on Spira can you wear these things so much?"

The young Praetor simply smiled and continued to watch the couples on the dance floor as they waltzed. Yuna had asked the three musicians that came from Macalania Woods to play at her wedding. They had agreed immediately, honored that Lady Yuna was allowing them to participate in such a great event. It seemed like a good idea too; the crowd really seemed to be enjoying the whimsical music that Bayra, Pukutak, and Donga created.

Rin had really outdone himself with this reception. The ballroom of his hotel was huge and decadently built, easily superior in both comfort and architecture than the rest of Spira. The floor was tiled in a glass-like material that reflected whatever filtered through the clear, crystal dome overhead; it gave the place a mystical, floaty feeling. The white and black swirled marble walls where lined on both sides by tall windows that ran from floor to ceiling. Rich, wine red curtains framed each of these monstrous windows and gold banisters ran around the railings of the stairs, which lead to the second story. Crystal chandeliers lit the room with their soft light. It was beyond beautiful.

"Hey, look at that," Gippal laughed. "I didn't know the Noojmeister could dance!"

It was dancing...if you wanted to call it that. Really, it was Leblanc manhandling him across the dance floor as the tall, silent Youth League leader tried to escape, only to be dragged back in again. Those two...Gippal grinned. He wouldn't be surprised if the next wedding he attended was theirs, despite Nooj's indifference.

"Excuse me," Baralai said and walked away. Gippal's eyes followed him across the elegant ballroom to Paine, who was standing by herself beside one of the tall marble pillars. Baralai said something to her and was stared at for a moment by the sharp ruby eyes. Then, to Gippal's astonishment, Baralai held out a hand. And Paine actually took it! They drifted out into the dance floor together and joined the various couples in the catchy tune that filled the massive room.

_Okay, now I know something is wrong with this picture. Nooj is out there. Baralai is out there. Even Paine is out there. And I'm still standing here? _Gippal thought ruefully as he uncrossed his arms and smirked to himself. Time to mingle. He glanced around, catching a few eyes here and there of girls who'd quickly blush and avert their eyes or giggle self-consciously with a wave in his direction.

Not interesting enough. He'd had enough girlfriends in his lifetime and a fair share of mindless worshippers of his good looks to know them when he saw them. So he kept looking for a while. Then he saw her.

_Whoa now...who is that?_ Gippal thought when he caught a brief glimpse of someone in the center of the dance floor. It'd been a fleeting look, quickly blocked by the other waltzing guests. Her back had been turned to him, but the river of gold curls flowing down the slight frame and curvy figure had been enough to spark his interest. He hadn't noticed her before throughout the wedding and he _never_ let a cute girl pass by. She did, however, look vaguely familiar. Who was she?

Determined to find out, Gippal pushed away from the wall where he had been standing and weaved his way through the dancers. She was standing near the center of the dance floor. It was a bit difficult to reach her, as he kept getting bumped into and accidentally cutting into the waltzing pairs. One time the couples surged by in a great dense pack as the rhythm of the music picked up. Gippal lost sight of the mystery girl completely for a few seconds as the dancing pairs roughly jostled him.

When they passed, the girl was gone. He glanced around wildly to find her but she was nowhere in sight. He frowned disappointedly.

"Whacha doing?"

He jumped at the sudden question and sharply looked over to identify the speaker. Rikku was watching him curiously. He relaxed and gave her his trademark smirk. "Hey Cid's girl. Shouldn't you be with the kids instead of out here with the adults?"

She made a face at him but smiled. "This coming from the guy with one eye standing in the middle of the ballroom looking lost."

"For your information, I'm not lost," Gippal answered, shoving her playfully. "I was looking for someone."

"Hey!" Rikku protested at the pushing and straightened her dress. "Who?"

"I'm not sure, actually...I saw her and followed her out here. But I lost her."

Rikku stared at him. "...Okay...so you're standing here looking around for someone you don't even know. That's not, like, stalkerish _at all_."

"Ah, you wouldn't understand. It's adult stuff," Gippal teased her affectionately.

"Meanie," She stuck her tongue out at him.

He grinned and offered his hand. "Wanna' dance? Might as well since we're both out here."

"Let's boogie!" She enthusiastically answered. She eagerly grabbed his hand and curtsied like he was a gentleman and she a lady. He grinned and played along, kissing her hand; he was rewarded by her cheeks turning a rosy pink. A flustered look flashed across her face for a just a few seconds before it melted again into the smile he was used to seeing on her face since they'd been kids.

Their bodies melded together perfectly. Gippal slid a hand to Rikku's waist as his other laced his fingers with hers. It felt awkward for a moment and he was very much aware of the mere centimeters that separated them. Other couples glided past them while the Macalania musicians changed tunes to a more orchestra-oriented song.

She smirked up at him, "Fryd? Lumt vaad?" ((What? Cold feet?))

"Hyr. Zicd funneat dryd oui'mm _lnicr_ so vaad," He teased. ((****Nah. Just worried that you'll _crush_ my feet.))****

"Sayhea." ((****Meanie.))****

The two Al Bhed moved out onto the floor together. After a beat, they began waltzing along to the festive music. Gippal prided himself in his dancing skills. His mother had taught him at a young age and he'd swiftly taken to it, despite how unlikely it seemed that he would. Besides, what better way to woo the ladies than to be hot on the dance floor? This tactic had worked wonders for him at every festival that was held at Home in his years of growing up there. In fact, it was how he and Rikku had hooked up in their silly, puppy-love days.

"Gil."

Gippal blinked down at his dancing partner. "What?"

"Gil for your thoughts?" Rikku asked as she easily followed his lead in a raunchy salsa that was now starting up.

"Ah, it's nothing. Hey, remember when we used to dance like this back at Home when we were kids?" Gippal chuckled, giving her a playful squeeze around the waist as he pulled her closer. "Always come running back to me, don't ya', Cid's girl?"

Rikku waved a hand nonchalantly. "The thanks I get for pitying a lonely guy on the dance floor. Geez!"

He laughed. "Okay, fair enough. Denial is not healthy. I understand."

She just rolled her eyes. "Yes, keep telling yourself that."

He twirled her in a circle and she seductively rolled her hips in tune with the music. The hem of the shimmery white dress she had on billowed out and fell loosely around her small frame. He heard the heels of her slippers click-clack against the tiled floor while the two of them waltzed across the floor in a wide circle. He could smell a faint whiff of cinnamon and apples from whatever it was she washed her hair with as it bounced in a heap of blond coils from a tight pony-tail, laced with small white flowers. Her sweet, joyful green eyes blazed into his while their bodies were swept up in the jive of the music.

"You got a perm," Gippal noted, fingering a loose tress that was on her shoulder.

He could have sworn that she blushed but she looked down to fast for him to see. "Yeah. Gotta' look the part for Yunie's wedding, you know? Besides, it's only a one day thing. It'll be back to normal by tomorrow."

"Hmph. Imagine that. Playing dress up? Never took you for the girly type," He said. In all the yeas that he'd known her, Rikku had in no way been one of the girls he'd known that were constantly yakking on and on about stupid things like make-up and clothes. She was always with the boys, working on machina or scavenging the dessert sands for its numerous hidden treasures. He'd never admitted it to her but this vein of rebellious tomboyishness had been what attracted him when they'd been younger, which resulted in their short-lived 'relationship' when he was fourteen and she thirteen.

The green eyes suddenly flashed in defiance. "What, am I not capable of being 'girly'?"

"Huh? No, I didn't say that. Not at all. Relax, Cid's girl. You look great," Gippal said, surprised at the sudden burst of vehemence on her part. He hadn't meant to tell her the last part but it slipped out. Thankfully, it was enough to make the sudden anger change into another rosy coloring of her cheeks and she muttered a shy 'thanks'. They continued dancing in silence.

Okay, it was kind of awkward again. This was odd, Gippal mused. This wasn't a normal occurrence for him at all. Girls were usually easy to woo to a melting puddle of goo for him. Not that that was what he was trying to do. Come on, this was Rikku! Rikku: Cid's hyperactive, loud, far too cheerful little girl. They'd known each other since they were toddlers. Why would it be awkward? There was no reason for it to be. Yet it was.

Yuna saved him from the awkward silence. The bride had decided that it was time to throw the bouquet. Rikku squealed in delight and with a bright smile, ran off to join the girls that had scrambled over to where the High Summoner was standing on a chair, her new husband gripping one of her hands to keep her from falling.

"Hey Gippal."

Gippal turned. Baralai.

The New Yevon Praetor was standing beside Nooj and Paine, who had escaped from the madness of the bouquet toss. He joined his friends. "What's up? Our little present ready for the lovebirds?"

Paine nodded. "Mako is taking care of it as we speak. And seeing as a speech is appropriate in this case, we thought it was nice of you to volunteer."

"Volunteer?" Gippal stared at them as they grinned, nodding in unison. He raised an eyebrow, understanding what she was saying, "You mean you volunteered me."

Nooj waved a hand, "Same thing. The point is, you're giving the speech since you, ah, have a way with words."

"Funny," Gippal grumbled as Paine and Baralai laughed to his expense. Truthfully, he didn't mind. He didn't have a problem giving speeches being the Machine Faction Leader and all. Baralai and Nooj just weren't comfortable giving 'friendly' speeches and it would be a cold day in hell before Paine went up there to give some sappy speech even to close friends.

On cue, a shadow encased the area suddenly. Gippal glanced up at the airship now hovering over the wedding site, its metallic steel blue glinting in the morning sunlight. It wasn't as large or luxurious as the Celsius but far more advanced technology-wise, thanks to the efforts of the Machine Faction. Gippal grinned proudly. In fact, this airship had been one his greatest endeavors in his career of working with machina.

"Who...Who is that?" Gippal heard Tidus ask in bewilderment as he hovered protectively near his wife. The guests, equally startled, were staring up at it and looking as if they were on the verge of fleeing should any danger come to them from the unexpected arrival.

"Hey! Stop that!" Yuna called as the wind from the turbines were causing a mess down below.

Gippal chuckled. He made his way to the podium and cleared his throat. "It's okay everyone. Sorry if we scared you."

"What are you talking about?" Yuna demanded. Behind her, Lulu, Wakka, and Kimahri stood smiling knowingly.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Valiant. This airship is one of the fastest, most advanced models ever built on Spira..." Gippal gave a little summary on what its capabilities were but he doubted that most of them knew remotely what he was talking about.

"Um..." Tidus spoke up when he was finished. "Okay, but why is it _here_?"

Gippal rolled his eyes. Wasn't it obvious why it was here after everything he'd just told them? The High Summoner really knew how to pick her men, it seemed. "Because it's present to you and your wife."

_At least they like it._ Gippal thought with a grin when Yuna gave a touching thank you to them for the gift. The party resumed for a bit after that. In the end, Yuna and Tidus boarded the Valiant hand in hand as the guests cheered and threw dyed rice in the air. Gippal had hired a young Al Bhed named Araith to be their pilot for the duration of the honeymoon so the lovebirds didn't have to worry about learning how to fly the airship until later.

"Nice speech there, Gippal. That part about how the Machine Faction ingeniously engineered the anti-gravity engine from scratch brought tears to my eyes," Rikku teased him after they watched the Valiant lift off and shoot off into the sky in an impressive burst of power.

He shoved her playfully aside. "Whatever you say, little girl."

She gave him a cheeky grin. "Fine. I come all the way over here to say goodbye to you and THIS is the appreciation I get."

"Goodbye? You leaving now?"

Rikku nodded. "Yup. Might as well. Nothing else to do now that Yunie and Tidus are gone and the wedding's over. It's back to traveling for me!"

He couldn't help but to feel a pang of envy. He longed to be rid of his responsibilities for just a little while and to be able to travel around carefree too. Not a day went by when he wasn't thinking of just throwing caution to the wind and taking off on some childish adventure. To his surprise, her wiry arms wrapped around him and squeezed gently.

"I'll see you around, okay? Try not to work too hard, O great Machine Faction Leader!" She purred into his ear. Before he could reply, she had pulled away and was walking away.

His eye widened as he stared after her retreating form, watching the golden curls bounce across her shoulders and down her back. The curve of her hips moved languidly with each step as she glided across the floor towards the door. Without a doubt, it was the pretty girl he'd seen earlier. He couldn't believe it. She had been right in front of him the whole time and he hadn't even realized it. It'd been Rikku!


	9. Chapter Eight

A/N: Thanks as always to my awesome readers. You make my little world go round. : )

**Jezzi:** Thank you. I'm glad you like it.

**Lttlwings**: No worries. Plenty of GippalRikku fluff up ahead and more.

**Tanya Takaishi**: Oh wow. Thanks so much for that awsome review! That totally made my day. I'm happy you struck around. Trust me, I have a few more twists and turns up my sleeve that will hopefully keep you entertained.

**Zaima**: What else is there in life besides GippalRikku??? Hee hee. I'll try my best to not make the wait too long next time.

**kingleby**: Haha. The Nooj and Leblanc scene just popped into my head as I was writing so I decided to incorporate it into the chapter. Glad you liked it. : )

On another note if anyone is interested, this is how you pronounce some of the names that will appear in this chapter:

_**Eido**_: Ay (as in 'Jay' without the 'J') doh (pronounced like 'dough')

_**Lerii**_: Lair ee (kind of like 'Larry' with a longer 'ee' sound at the end)

Chapter Eight

As soon as she escaped the reception, Rikku made her way to her hotel room. She shimmied out of the pretty gown and ran her hand through the curls in her hair in a vain attempt to straighten the strands before they did so naturally. Why she'd agreed to get the perm in the first place was beyond her. She took a hanger out of the closet to hang the dress up so when she returned it to Lulu it wouldn't be ruined. Then Rikku started hunting around the room for her things so she could check out and be on her way. All the while, she found herself humming the last song that the Macalania (technically Guadosalam now) musicians had played.

She smiled to herself as she quietly reflected on Tidus and Yuna's union. The wedding had been nothing short than perfect. She was happy to see her cousin smiling for the first time in a long time like she really meant it.

And Gippal...that had been the best part, Rikku admitted to herself. While she'd known in advance that he'd be at the wedding and that they'd probably run into each other at one time or another, Rikku had been surprised when she felt her heart do a funny flip-flop at the sight of his easy-going grin. It wasn't totally unexpected, as she'd always had a crush on the brilliant, charismatic Gippal like most of the other girls. It didn't hurt that he was undeniably _hot_. Still, she'd thought that she would have gotten over her silly infatuation with him by now.

Sighing, Rikku decided not to dwell on the matter further. _He still thinks I'm just a kid, the jerk. Ah well. No use worrying about it._

The thought didn't come without a pang of regret, though. The memory of being so close to him as they waltzed, of feeling his strong arms wrapped around her as the spicy scent of aftershave and faint traces of machina oil so uniquely _Gippal_ filled her nose, was one she would not soon forget. Rikku shook her head to dispel the image of his cocky smile and pushed open the heavy glass doors of the hotel.

A good number of the wedding guests were still lingering in Luca so the main walkway was still crowded. Rikku eased her way through and headed towards the dock where she knew the Celsius was. She was on her way to retrieve the mysterious sphere from the Gullwings' newest addition and Shinra's replacement, Eido. A little before the wedding, she had dropped the sphere off to him, receiving an eager promise to do what he could with it in return.

Now as she walked past throngs of people either commenting to each other about the wedding they'd just attended, talking about the upcoming Blitzball season, playing Sphere Break, her thoughts drifted back to the journey she was looking forward to continuing. The question now was where to go next. Rikku mentally went down the list of places she'd compiled in her head. She was so busy mulling over the matter that she didn't hear her name being called until the speaker quite suddenly was standing right beside her.

Rikku jumped back. "Ah! What—"She let out a deep breath to calm her startled heart. Then she looked into the amused pale green eyes regarding her. "Scare a girl half to death, will you? Geez!"

A shy smile melting into dimples across the tanned face met her, "Sorry. I called your name a few times but you...well...ignored me and kept walking."

Rikku shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry. I was thinking about something." She perked up and gave him a bright smile. "You know, the funny thing is I was actually on my way to see _you_."

He laughed. "Small world. Here I was wandering around Luca looking for _you_."

She playfully punched him in the arm. The tall, fair-haired Al Bhed before her was the aforementioned addition to the Gullwings: Eido. He had joined a few months after Shinra left following the Vegnagun fiasco. It was only after Shinra's departure that the Gullwings realized how much they'd relied on the boy's incredible intellect, as all sorts of things just went wrong. Without Shinra it had taken them a lot longer to repair things around the Celsius. Plus, they were without his crazy, yet useful inventions so life wasn't as easy to get by with. A few times, Rikku knew that Buddy and Brother had almost flown straight to Shinra's parents' house on the outskirts of Sanubia Desert to beg for Shinra to rejoin.

Luckily, Buddy ran into Eido at a Blitzball game before the Gullwings hit that point of desperation. He'd proven to be a great asset too. While he wasn't as inventive as Shinra, Eido had made his mark with his unmatched expertise in Sphere technology. Privately, Rikku thought that he even surpassed Shinra in this field. Where as Shinra could mold a sphere into something incredible like a CommSphere (which he was using to rake in the gil nowadays) or a projective movie dome screen like he'd done two years ago in the Thunder Plains for Yuna's concert, Eido could _create_ a sphere from _scratch_. And unlike Shinra, the shy, sweet teenager didn't brag on and on about his ingenuity.

"Ooh, you finished with the sphere, didn't you?" Rikku asked excitedly.

Eido nodded. "Sure did. I thought you'd want to be the first to watch it so I went out to find you."

"Great! Lead the way!" she cheered.

To her surprise, Eido turned and walked in the opposite direction instead of towards the port where the Celsius was waiting. She quickened her pace to keep up with him. "Hey Eido, where are we going? The Celsius is back that way."

"I know. But the sphere is back at my workshop," He replied.

She blinked as she fell into step beside him. "Your workshop?"

Eido nodded. "Yeah. I was working on it in the Celsius and I got a little claustrophobic and we were in town so..."

As the son of the legendary captain of the Al Bhed Psyches, it wasn't unusual for a fifteen-year-old to own his own workshop. Rikku had only been to Eido's workshop twice ever since she'd met him. Apparently a child prodigy like Eido needed a lot of space to work because the workshop was sizable and jam packed with all sorts of gadgets and gizmos that would bring any machina loving being to their knees. Well, that was how _Rikku_ had felt the first time she'd stepped foot into Eido's workshop.

They slipped through the other people clustered about in Luca towards an offset of the main walkway. Eido led her down a set of stairs that laid half hidden by the railing. It spiraled downward into a shallow alcove. There, Rikku saw the cheerful bright red double doors that awaited them.

"You know, I think that sphere was the oldest one that I've ever seen," Eido said as they strode purposefully into through the doors. "From my analysis, it's about a little over a thousand years old."

She blinked. "How can you be sure? I mean, for all we know it could be a new sphere that some joker decided to rough up and use it to play a prank on some poor, unsuspecting Sphere Hunter."

"It could..." Eido said loftily as he walked right up to a large rectangular table where several spheres were placed, "but it's not likely. I checked, honestly. This is legit from what I've seen."

Rikku felt a surge of excitement. "So you're saying that we could actually have a sphere from Spira's past? It's true past?"

He nodded. "Well, at least some time around or before the Machina War anyway. I can't pinpoint exactly how old it is and the contents doesn't really tell us anything but I'm certain that it's at least a thousand years old."

The teenager walked over to the table and carefully began sorting through the spheres to find the one they were discussing. As he did, Rikku glanced around her to the cluttered, boyish mess that surrounded them on all sides. She smiled and picked up a journal with neatly scrawled words filling the page that lay open on a pile of other books.

"'_Your hair is as fair as the sun, your eyes as blue as the sea. My heart beats upon seeing your face and all I want is for it to turn to me_.'" She read and then threw a curious glance at Eido. "I didn't know you were into poetry, Eido."

"Hey! Rikku! Give me that!" He momentarily abandoned his search for the sphere. She wasn't surprised to see his face flush and his cheeks turn a deep pink as he scrambled around the table to snatch the journal away from her. Amused, Rikku evaded him and held the journal from his grasp as he futilely reached for it.

"Ohhhh...I see," Rikku teased playfully and ducked, darting around him under his arm, "Did my sweet little Eido finally meet someone?"

By now his face was beat red. He pouted at her as she continued to easily slip away from him, all the while keeping the journal safely out of his range. "Riii-kuuu!"

Laughing, Rikku stopped and flipped through a few more pages. Then she raised an eyebrow at him after seeing that most of the journal was filled with poems, suspiciously all about love or a girl. "Well?"

"Okay! Okay! I...she..." Eido fumbled to explain, biting his lip as he snatched the journal from Rikku. "Her name's Arala. I met her in Kilika. She's, um, kind of a romantic so I, well, that is to say..."

She took pity on him and gave him a reassuring pat on the back, though she couldn't help but to laugh at the expression on his face. "It's okay, kiddo. It's okay! Say no more. I know—"

"OH THANK GOODNESS!"

They both whirled at the sudden exclamation. At the doorway stood a young woman with a mop of pale straw-colored braids, decorated with various beads that clanked together when she moved her head. Her skin was a light, sun-kissed ebony and her eyes were a luminescent brown that usually shined with intelligence and fire. But today, her expression was not that of a placid serenity commonly associated with her. It was one of anxiety mixed with relief as she gazed wildly between the two of them. She was the Gullwing's other addition, also coincidentally Buddy's girlfriend.

"Lerii, what—"Before Rikku could finish the young woman was across the room, throwing her arms around the two of them to pull them into a hug.

"I'm SO glad you two are okay! When I got back to the Celsius, I thought the worst..." She trailed off and released them.

Rikku exchanged confused glances with Eido. Then she gave Lerii a wary look. "What are you talking about? The Celsius? What happened?"

Lerii blinked and quickly flicked her gaze between the two of them. "You mean...you didn't hear?"

"Hear what?" Eido demanded.

"There was a series of break-ins while Lady Yuna's wedding was going on. Several of the airships were broken into and a few people were hurt, one killed from what I heard. Luca Security is saying publicly that they think the culprits were robbers," Lerii explained in a rush.

Rikku frowned suspiciously at her words. "_Publicly_?"

Lerii nodded and spoke in a lowered voice, as if divulging a secret to them. "It might have been an attempt on one of the faction leaders' lives. Mako is looking into it."

"Oh wow," Eido said, eyes wide. "Did anyone get hurt on the Celsius? I know Brother said he was going to do a diagnostic before we left..."

"Yeah. He was the one that caught them as they were raiding the Celsius. He put up a fight. One got him really good in the head though."

Rikku was outraged. "THEY DID WHAT? Is he okay?"

She was already heading for the door. Behind her Lerii and Eido jogged to keep up and the other woman went on with her answer. "Oh, he's fine, Rikku! Just shaken up! Buddy's talking to Luca Security now."

The three of them hurried past the people that were flocking in the same direction. News of the break-ins had obviously spread. Rikku impatiently shoved her way through the curious onlookers that were being held off of the docking port by a few members of Luca Security. Past them, Rikku could see the line of airships being combed by Security, the olive green uniformed men and women walking in and out of the ships, talking to crew members and investigating the site around each airship.

"Hey! Please step back, Ma'am. I can't let you through," one of the Security officers said to Rikku when she finally managed to break from the crowd of onlookers.

"We're with the Celsius," Lerii told him before Rikku could react. Seeing her seemed to satisfy the officer and he stepped aside to allow them entry.

Rikku peered around anxiously for Brother and Buddy. The Celsius was the object of intense scrutiny. Not only were the Luca Security officers clustered around it. There were others in dark crimson and silver uniforms also present, swept up in the flurry activity that swirled so densely around the Celsius in particular. She recognized them. The Bevelle Royal Guard.

_Then that woman with the white hair must be the Mako Paine told me about._ Rikku thought when she spotted the tall, proud figure in the center of the activity effectively directing the investigation in a commanding voice. She looked at Lerii. "How did they get here so fast?"

Lerii shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is that when Buddy and I returned to the ship, Mako and Luca Security were dragging some guy out and suddenly _they_ just appeared." She pressed her lips into a thin line. "I'll bet Mako had them follow us. She doesn't trust the Al Bhed, you know. Especially not with her precious Praetor Baralai onboard and all the 'potential dangers' as she put it earlier."

_She might be justified in the claim. I wonder what happened...? Where's Brother?_ Rikku continued to scan the scene for her brother.

As if reading her thoughts, Eido suddenly spoke up. "Hey, there he is! Over there with the healers."

Indeed, it was Brother. He was sitting slumped against a Medi-Hover holding what appeared to be a bag of ice to his head while a healer busily wrapped his other hand with some white gauze. A worried looking Cid hovered over them, his stubborn jaw taut with concern. Rikku hurried to join her father and brother.

"Brother! Yna oui ugyo!?" She demanded. ((Are you okay!?))

Brother winced and half mumbled, half whined, "Hud cu muit, Rikku!" ((Not so loud, Rikku!))

"Cunno. Fryd rybbahat?" ((Sorry. What happened?))

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened!" Cid broke in. "Them no good thieves around these parts broke in and tried to steal, that's what! I told this knucklehead to get a better security system put on the Celsius but does he listen to me? Nooooo! Now look at him! More beat up then a Blitzball in a season closing!"

"You're horrible! I'm wounded and you can't even stop complaining!" Brother barked accusingly.

"It's true, boy, and you know it! If you'd listened to me, this would have never happened!" Cid shot back.

"You don't know nothin', old timer!"

The two of them went back and forth. Rikku sighed and waited for them to finish. She knew it was their way of normalizing the situation. She could tell that Cid was worried and trying not to show weakness by expressing it. Brother knew this too but his need for lavish attention and manly pride did not allow him to accept Cid's gruff approach.

"There's Buddy and Mako. Let's go see if everything is okay," Lerii suggested when it was clear that Cid and Brother wouldn't be finished for a while. Rikku and Eido followed her to where the Gullwings' navigator and co-pilot was standing beside the white-haired woman.

"Buddy!" Lerii called to her boyfriend. "I found them. Any news?"

Buddy shook his head. "Not yet. It doesn't look like sabotage but they're checking the entire ship to be sure."

"Is anything missing? They're saying robbers, right?" Rikku asked.

"We're speculating," Mako said coolly as she regarded Rikku with a measured, distrustful look. Rikku met her gaze and was surprised to see the family resemblance this woman had to Baralai, in exception to the fact that while Baralai's eyes were warm, these brownish-gold eyes were unreadable. Cold. They flicked from her face to Lerii. "Didn't I say NO ONE outside of the crew was to enter the scene?"

"She's apart of the Gullwings," Buddy said in defense of his girlfriend, who seemed intimidated by Mako's frosty look. "Rikku is Brother's sister and one of the founding members. She has a right to be here as anyone."

Mako narrowed her eyes at him, and then glanced back at Rikku again before simply replying, "Fine."

_Geez. What is her deal?_ Rikku thought.

Eido broke the tension with a tentative question, "May I check my work area to see if anything is missing? It could lead to a clue as to why the airships were broken into."

Mako nodded. "Go ahead. Just don't get in their way. They're still checking for bombs and tampering."

"I won't," Eido promised and started for the Celsius' ramp.

"How many ships were broken in to?" Rikku asked. She turned her head to look at the line of the other airships.

"Seven including ours," Buddy answered.

"Did many people get hurt? I heard someone got killed."

He nodded a grim confirmation. "Yeah. The third airship. It was a mechanic. Whoever it was must've snuck in while he was busy and just snapped his neck from behind. Luca Security found his body right after we caught the guy on the Cel-"

Rikku cut him off with a startled question, "What? You _caught_ one of them? Where is he?"

"In custody," Mako bluntly slipped in, making Rikku turn to look into the expressionless amber eyes again. "The matter is being handled. You need not concern yourself."

Rikku's eyes narrowed as she held the other woman's gaze unflinchingly. She wasn't stupid. She could read between the lines. _What she means is 'It's none of your business.'_

She could almost hear the sneered _Al Bhed_ being added to the thought. Well, two could play at that game.

"I'm not sure about that," Rikku coolly replied. "After all, this involved the Celsius, my brother's ship. So it IS my concern. I hate the thought of putting you through all of this trouble when I'm sure you're eager to get back to Bevelle."

_This isn't any YOUR business, lady. This is our ship._

The slight smile Mako gave her was tight and forced, her eyes like the narrowed slits of a Queen Coerl's. "Your concern is appreciated but I would feel much better knowing that this was only a...shall we say, false alarm? Everything is under control."

_I don't care. I don't trust any of you. This could have been an assassination attempt._

"No, I insist. Maybe I could be of some help, you know?" Rikku answered trying not to glare at this woman. Who the hell did she think she was suspecting the Al Bhed of trying to kill Baralai?

_I don't give a damn. I'm staying, like it or not._

Mako nodded stiffly, clearly displeased, "All right then. If you'll excuse me, I need to oversee the Luca Security's investigation of the other airships. A pleasure to meet you."

_I'll be watching you._

"Nice to meet you too."

_Likewise, lady._

With that, Mako glanced quickly at Buddy and then swept off like a gust of wind, her wine red and black cape billowing dramatically in the breeze after her. Rikku watched her retreating form and felt her thoughts whirl at the first encounter she'd just had with the calculating, strangely hostile woman who was adamant on keeping the secrecy of her investigation. More secrets. It seemed Bevelle had not changed their ways much after all.

"Uh...you okay there, Rikku?" Lerii asked hesitantly.

Rikku snapped out of her reverie and turned, putting a smile onto her face. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine! It's just...that woman is just...geez!"

Buddy smiled. "Yeah, we know. Believe me, we know. But that's the commander of the Bevelle Royal Guard and she's in charge of keeping the Praetor safe. Plus, she saved Brother's life, believe it or not."

This surprised Rikku. "What?"

"Yup, it's the truth," Lerii piped up. "Buddy and I were just getting back when we saw some strange men running out from the Celsius. By the time we realized something was wrong and got inside, we found Brother unconscious on the bridge and Mako duking it out with one of the goons that broke in. She was actually _protecting_ him. That's how they caught that guy."

"Hmm..." Rikku simply answered in a noncommittal tone. Then she looked at Buddy. "Speaking of the Praetor, where is he? Nooj? And...Gippal?"

Buddy said, "They're fine. When we found out about the break-ins, Mako had them sent away from the Celsius. You see all those guys in red?"

"Bevelle Royal Guard?"

"Yeah. She had them shadowing us here. Can you believe it? She said that it was a 'precautionary tactic to ensure the safety of three of the most influential leaders on Spira'." Buddy rolled his eyes. "That's why they're being so thorough in checking for evidence of an assassination attempt."

"In other words, to keep an eye on us _untrustworthy_ Al Bhed," Lerii frowned. "The Bevelle Royal Guard is escorting the leaders home. They didn't want to take any risks so they took the airship they used to follow us. Paine went with them. In a way, I guess it's a good thing she had them follow us. Luca Security is kind of at a loss as to what to do since they've never dealt with this kind of thing before."

Rikku took a moment to absorb all of this. She ignored the wave of relief she felt when she heard that Gippal (and the other two leaders of course) was safe. Then, she ruefully said, "And here I was thinking we'd actually have a nice, peaceful day for Yunie's wedding."

"Nice?"

"Peaceful?"

Buddy and Lerii feigned puzzled looks and asked in unison, "What's that?"

Rikku giggled and the tension of the situation seemed to deflate just enough for things to feel relatively normal again. They were interrupted a few moments later when Eido rejoined them. He looked a little upset and confused.

"Hey Eido," Rikku asked gently. "Is everything okay?"

He gave her an odd look. "To tell the truth, I'm not sure."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, I did a quick check of the ship while I was in there. Nothing seems to be missing. Then I got to my station and it was completely trashed. They went through _everything_, even a box of old tools I had under the seat. But there wasn't anything missing. Not even the stash of gil I had sitting on the console as plain as day."

The three older Al Bhed stared at him. Buddy ventured, "That doesn't sound like any robbers I know of."

"There's more. You know that sphere data we had saved on the computer from all of the spheres the Gullwings found? Someone broke through my safety protocols and copied them. I found the console on when I got to the bridge so I checked to make sure. How do you like that?" Eido gave them each a mystified expression.

"That's weird. What do you think they were after?" Rikku wondered aloud.

The younger teenager shrugged. "Who knows? But I can't help but to think...I was in there working on that Sphere of yours earlier, Rikku. If I hadn't decided to move my work to my workshop..." He shuddered a little.

Buddy patted him comfortingly on the shoulder. "It's a good thing you did then, man. Brother was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Eido glanced at him. "Is Brother okay?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about that knucklehead. He's got a head harder than a rock. He's going to be just fine. He's over there if you want to talk to him. I'm going to go check out the Celsius for myself. Gotta' make sure my baby's okay."

"I think I will," Eido said and walked away towards where Brother and Cid were still sitting. For some strange reason, Eido looked up to Brother. It was something Rikku didn't understand to this day. However, her brother seemed to appreciate the admiration and treated Eido like his own little brother.

"You coming, Rikku?" Lerii asked as she and Buddy made their way to the Celsius.

"Hmm? Oh! Yeah, right behind you," Rikku jogged after them.

They made their way past uniformed Luca Security officers and Bevelle Royal Guards busily checking every nook and cranny of the Celsius. The only reason the three of them were being allowed onto the ship was because an initial scan had already been done on the Celsius by a device that would track explosives and no evidence of a bomb or a booby trap had been found. It seemed Mako liked to be thorough, as her men were **still** searching.

They took the elevator to the Bridge. Buddy immediately dashed for his station. Lerii went to the pilot's seat and plopped down into it, quickly going to work on checking the controls and assessing any sort of damage report. Rikku hung back for a moment. She had her hands unconsciously planted on her hips while she surveyed the room from the tiny balcony between the two staircases leading into the actual Bridge.

Eido hadn't been kidding when he'd said his station had been ransacked. Drawers were haphazardly pulled open, their contents obviously disturbed and sticking out wildly. Boxes full of tools and gadgets Eido usually kept meticulously organized beside his console were strewn out and spread around, all open with their contents on display or lying scattered randomly nearby. The screen of the computer console was alight with low humming sound.

_Man. They really let loose in here. What the heck were they looking for?_ Rikku absently wandered through the area, careful not to step on anything that had been displaced from the boxes. Her eyes scanned the console area for any evidence of the unusual event, as it seemed to be the only place on the Bridge that had been searched.

_Hmm...it's like Eido said. Nothing looks missing. _She even saw the small pile of gil he'd mentioned sitting beside the keyboard. What kind of thief would leave that behind? Or some of the expensive parts Eido had stored in the boxes for that matter? From personal experience, she knew a thief would not miss these things. Which meant...

_It wasn't a thief. Someone was here looking for something. Now the question is what...hey now..._ Rikku kneeled down beside the console when something caught her eye. In the small space under it, a strange silverish mechanism was almost hidden from plain sight. "What's this?"

She reached into the narrow space and grabbed the object, then held it between both hands to inspect it. It didn't look like a spectacular piece of machina but Rikku had not seen something like it before. It resembled a flat silver mechanical pad with a domed screen on it. On the top of the pad in the center was an outstretched rod with a small glowing sphere that seemed to pulsate rhythmically as the light in the sphere flared constantly. Under the domed screen were three unlabeled buttons all set apart in equal distances.

Rikku stared at the device. She had no idea what it was but she was certain that the Gullwings didn't use anything like this. So, she walked over to one of the Bevelle Guards that was carefully scanning the walls of the Bridge with an explosive tracker.

"Hey, does this thing belong to one of your guys?" Rikku asked.

He turned to see what it was she was talking about. When he saw the device in her hands, he frowned and shook his head. "Nope. We don't use anything like that."

Rikku's instincts started to tell her to be careful, "Well, it doesn't belong to us..." She showed it to Buddy and Lerii and they confirmed her suspicions with shakes of their heads. Wary now, Rikku was about to suggest the Guard check the device when something happened.

Suddenly the small sphere on the rod began to glow with a blinding light that emanated from the constant glow within it. It flared brightly and seemed to stem out further and further like an explosion of luminance. Rikku nearly dropped the object when a shrill, sharp beeping sound came howling out of the built in speakers. Then the light of the sphere seemed to reabsorb into the rod and trickle down into the dome screen, making it come to life with a bright flash.

"What in the..." Rikku peered down into the dome screen, her mind working furiously to grasp what was so clearly being shown to her. She looked up to meet the equally astonished faces of Buddy, Lerii, and the Guard and blurted out the only words that came to mind. "It's Spira!"


	10. Chapter Nine

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update! It's been a weird month.

Chapter Nine

Leaving the wedding turned out to be far less fun than getting there. Of all the things Gippal had expected when leaving, the last thing he would have expected was being escorted by a dozen armed men and women of the elite Bevelle Royal Guard. Imagine his surprise when just that had happened right after the reception. Once the enchanting dance with Rikku had ended, he'd quickly grown bored, a bit off-kilter by the experience he'd just had with his long time friend. So, he went in search of his friends.

He had found Baralai and Paine sitting at one of the tables clustered along the walls around the dance floor. Baralai grinned when he saw him, "Hey there, Gippal. Back so soon? You seemed like you were enjoying yourself."

Gippal frowned. "Huh?"

"Yes, you looked like you were on top of the world," Paine added with a smirk.

"Where IS Rikku anyway? You didn't abandon her for another girl, did you? That's not very gentlemanly of you, Gippal," chided Baralai in that soft teasing tone of his.

Before he could reply, Paine sighed dramatically, "Oh Gippal, Gippal, Gippal…don't we always tell you that that's NOT the way to impress girls?"

"Whoa, whoa!" Gippal interceded with his hands up. "What are the two of you babbling on about? That was just Cid's brat! I just thought I'd be a pal and dance with an old friend."

They looked at him dubiously and he stared back. Finally, Paine said in a dull voice that clearly indicated that she didn't believe him, "Right. Of course you were."

"I was!"

"Oh, we believe you…but you know, Gippal…denial is not healthy," Baralai still put in, smiling. He looked from the smiling Praetor to Paine's little grin and pouted.

"Okay, enough with the teasing, all ready," He said and then gave them a wicked grin of his own. "Besides, I want to hear about YOU TWO. Forget Cid's girl and me! You two were looking pretty cozy out there…arms around each other, staring into each other's eyes, bodies barely centimeters apart…"

He was rewarded with Paine's indignant growl of canning it and saw her cheeks turn pink before she turned away. Baralai's face was beat red as well. Gippal crossed his arms and sat back, satisfied. He raised an eyebrow at them like a parent would to their child as they inquired about a date, "Well? Come on. Let's hear it! You got to watch ME out there but I didn't get to watch the two of you!"

Baralai laughed and held up his hand to concede defeat; Paine was obviously growing agitated. "Okay, okay. Fair enough. You win. We'll stop pestering you."

"Thank you," Gippal glanced around at the couples still on the dance floor. "Where's Nooj? Did Leblanc drag him off to some dark corner and make a man of him or should I be worried?"

Both Baralai and Paine seemed to shudder at the thought. Paine said, "…Something like that. I don't know. They left earlier. Nooj didn't look very thrilled but I guess if it comes to keeping her happy…" She shrugged.

Gippal grinned. "The things we do for the ones we love…"

"Let's never let him hear you say that," Baralai remarked with a smile. He was about to take a sip of the cup he was nursing when something past Gippal's shoulder made him pause mid-action. His smile faded somewhat and the amber eyes narrowed slightly in moderate concern.

Curious, Gippal glanced over his shoulder to see what it was that had caught Baralai's attention. Across the vast room, the doors were swung open. The music of the last song continued and the dancing resumed without missing a beat but now a figure was swiftly weaving a path through, right towards their table. It was Mako. And she looked worried.

"Baralai," She said in a suspiciously relieved tone when she approached. "Thank goodness you're safe."

Baralai blinked at that. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Mako's body language screamed tension and even as she spoke, her eyes skirted around the room warily, "Praetor, I'm afraid that we need to get going. We must leave as soon as possible."

Gippal exchanged looks with Baralai. "What? But why?"

She didn't give Gippal the cold shoulder like she normally did or flat out ignore him. He didn't take that as a good sign. Her eyes darted quickly around the room again, specifically towards the windows, and then to him, "There's been an…incident. We really should get going."

"What kind of incident?" Paine demanded standing up.

The corners of Mako's eyes tightened. She was starting to grow annoyed with their lack of cooperation. "The kind that would require the immediate evacuation of Spira's figureheads. Praetor, please!"

_She said 'Spira's figureheads.'_ Gippal realized with a start. "Huh? You mean me too?"

Now there was that familiar glare that suggested her opinion of him being a complete idiot, "Of course."

By now Baralai had started to understand that Mako's distress was genuine, judging by how anxious she was to get them to leave and by how her eyes couldn't seem to stay focused long on them before they quickly flitted suspiciously to their surroundings. He glanced back at his friends before nodded to his sister. "Lead the way."

She nodded tersely and motioned for them to follow her. Gippal fell in step behind Baralai. As he followed them out, he found himself unconsciously looking around, vouching for anything even remotely suspicious though he had no idea what it was exactly that he was looking for.

"Where is Meyvan Nooj?" Mako asked quietly, eyes still forward.

"He left earlier with his…date," Baralai answered. "Don't worry. He's in safe hands."

She merely nodded and led them on. Outside they were greeted by their escorts: eight men and four women dressed in identical uniforms of red and silver, the emblem of the Bevelle Royal Guard stitched directly on the center of the chest area. They were armed.

"Uh…hey there…" Gippal said with a look around the semicircle confronting them.

"How did…where did they come from, Mako?" Baralai asked incredulously.

"I will explain everything later, Praetor. For now, we need to get you out of here," she answered and nodded to the group. They dispersed from their positions in fluid unison like a group of machina drones and flocked around the three of them, Mako striding purposefully to the front to lead. "We will not, I'm afraid, be leaving on the Celsius. But no matter. Another transport has been arranged and all of your things have been taken there all ready."

After much pressure on Baralai's part, Mako caved and explained to them the situation on their way away from the Hotel. Several airships had been broken into. A man had died. They'd caught only one of the culprits. And they'd caught him on the Celsius only seconds before he was going to kill Brother. The Celsius that the three major leaders of Spira were using, which is what alarmed Mako.

"So that's what all of this commotion is about," Paine remarked as they passed by groups of curious onlookers making their way towards the docks.

Mako nodded grimly. "This way, please."

She'd led them through an alternate path that Gippal didn't even know existed. It was a lowered walkway that ran separate of the main walkways of Luca and snaked around under the docking platforms, discreetly linking to each dock to the next. As they passed the crime scene, Gippal saw the line of airships that had been broken into being searched not only by the green-uniformed Luca Security but also by the Bevelle Royal Guards as well.

"What are they going to do with the guy you caught?" Gippal asked.

Mako threw him a sidelong glance. "They?"

"Luca Security. I mean, this is their jurisdiction," He answered.

Her face grew dark for a split second and then smoothed into the usual inscrutable mask she was so fond of. "On the contrary. Because the Celsius was involved, it has become OUR jurisdiction. The prisoner will be handed over to us and we will handle the matter of finding out who was behind this incident." There was a dangerous gleam in her eyes and she smirked a bit. "Besides, Luca Security has little experience in these matters."

_She just wants to tear into that captive._ Gippal thought. It was a chilling thought but not something he'd put past a woman like her. He'd heard disturbing rumors of how anyone posing an immediate threat to Bevelle's leader was treated deep down in the dungeons of Via Infinito, the place where one's cry could not be heard by surface dwellers.

They were taken to a sleek airship called the Raiden. It was about the same size as the Celsius but a completely different model. It was painted a bleak steel blue with patterns of black and green flames splayed along the sides. The hull was long and curved down into a sharp point where the bridge of the ship was situated. The wings sported double turbines each and Gippal saw a back up set in the rear of the airship under the tail. 'Raiden' was written in italicized calligraphic text along the tail fin.

"Ah, Praetor Baralai! It warms my heart to see you safe!" a stark voice said when they appeared at the private port where the Raiden was docked. An older, middle aged man dressed in the same uniform as the other Guards came up to them, his blue eyes sparkling. He smiled politely and then looked at Mako. "No problems, milady?"

Mako shook her head, "None. Meyvan Nooj has all ready left so don't worry about him." She looked back at the three of them. "I will not be going with you. This is Dakaris, my second-in-command. He will be accompanying you in my stead."

"And where will you be?" Paine asked.

Gippal wasn't sure if it was the flash of cruel amusement that flickered through Mako's eyes or the humorless smile on her lips that made his stomach clench. "Interrogating the prisoner. And overseeing the investigation, of course." She bowed her head to Baralai. "I will see you later in Bevelle, Praetor. Safe journey to all of you." With that, she had turned and left.

Now, nearly an hour later, Gippal found himself standing to the side on the bridge of the Raiden watching its crew at work. The difference of this crew to the one of the Celsius' was like night and day. For one thing, the Raiden's crew was larger. Each station was occupied and every few minutes or so, other crewman would come bustling in to give a status report to Dakaris. While the air of the Gullwings was relaxing, fun, and somewhat bumbling, the Bevelle Royal Guards were nothing short than stiff and efficient. It was boring, really.

Sighing, Gippal pushed himself off of the wall from where he stood in the shadows. "Damnit, I can't take much more of this. I need a drink."

The door slid open and he walked down a narrow hall that branched off into several different areas and then the elevator at the end. Paine easily kept up with him to answer, "Oh stop your complaining. None of us asked to be whisked away like this, you know."

"They're not even sure if it was a prank or an actual attempt on Baralai's life," Gippal huffed. They took the elevator down to the living quarters level. Across from the actual sleeping area was a small restaurant, equipped with its own bar. He remembered it from the few times he'd been on the Raiden.

"Hmph," Paine simply grunted as she slid into a seat beside him. Then, "They're trying to be cautious. I think they're still paranoid from the last time something like this happened at the conference."

"Yeah," Gippal ordered a drink, "Baralai really dodged the bullet that time."

"No, he didn't. And that's not funny," She said.

Gippal looked at her seriously. "I know. I'm not laughing."

They fell silent. The thought of their friend's life being in danger again made Paine as nervous as it did him, he knew. Even now, a full year after the first assassination attempt, Gippal could remember the helplessness he'd felt as the healers had rushed Baralai to safety. He could remember the choking fear of not knowing whether or not Baralai's injuries were fatal and struggled with the fact that there really wasn't anything he could do to help. He, Nooj, and Paine had been the ones to nervously occupy the waiting room of the Bevelle hospital, all thoughts of duty and obligation ignored until Baralai's status was known. It had been a few of the longest hours in Gippal's life, a few that he had no desire to repeat.

The man behind the bar set their drinks down in front of them and walked off. After a moment, Paine continued quietly, "Let's hope it was a false alarm and that Mako was just overreacting."

"I second that," Gippal answered. They clinked their drinks together before taking sips of them.

The rest of the flight for Gippal did not allow him to see Baralai at all. He'd been whisked away by Dakaris the moment they'd boarded and apparently, even on the airship security was still tight. As he and Paine exchanged good byes, she informed him that she'd be returning with Baralai to Bevelle…just because she didn't want him to be alone and worry himself over the incident, she'd added hastily. But Gippal was no fool. He could see the look of concern adorning her features.

"Take care of him," He'd murmured into her ear as he impulsively pulled her into a quick hug and then departed down the ramp to return to his life in Djose Temple.

It didn't help his already burdened mind to see the throngs of people filling the small space where the Temple was nestled among the mountainside. He took the sight of the crowded walkway leading up to the Temple and sighed. It was back to work. Back to endless interviews with treasure seekers and people looking for a fast way to earn some gil. Back to more and more responsibilities slowly weighing down on his shoulders. Back to leading a faction that gobbled up his free time like a hungry fiend.

"Gippal!" From the entrance of Djose Temple, his frazzled-looking assistant Lialle came running up to him, eyes wide with a mixture of panic and relief. "Dryhg kuuthacc oui'na pylg!" ((Thank goodness you're back!))

A small, square electronic data pad was shoved into Gippal's hands. As Lialle began rambling on and on about how he was slated to interview a massive number of people as interest in excavating Bikanel was suddenly increasing, how a new line of Machine prototypes needed his inspection, how he needed to start organizing a team to expand the back of the temple to make more workspace, how…it was endless really. Gippal took a deep breath and felt the weight settle across his shoulders once more, resigned to the life he'd chosen and what came with it. _Back to work. The break was nice while it lasted, I guess…_


	11. Chapter Ten

_**Searching for the Past**_

A/N: I am SO sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! The last few months have been hectic! Thanks to those of you who have been patient enough to wait it out. I love you guys.

Chapter 10

Of course, it wasn't literally Spira. It was, however, a holographic projection of the planet. The faces of all who surrounded it were tinged blue by the hologram's pale light. The mini-Spira hovered of the dome screen of the device, hovering slowly in a perfect imitation of the real thing.

"A hologram?" Lerii asked, baffled.

"A map," Rikku said, noticing for the first time the tiny holes that ran along the circumference of the dome. Super thin, almost invisible, lasers shot out of each and converged to create the image before them. Technology like this was pretty rare, even in that age when machina was quickly becoming more common and advanced with each passing day. Rikku had only seen this kind of hologram once among the gadgets in Eido's workshop.

"Why in the world would someone bring this onto the Celsius?" Buddy asked, scratching his head in an unconscious gesture of befuddlement.

"I'll have to document this," the Guard suddenly said. He was already whipping a clipboard out and writing rapidly, occasionally glancing up at the device in Rikku's outstretched hand.

"Are you sure it isn't Eido's?" Rikku persisted with a look at Buddy. She pressed another button experimentally and it apparently controlled the zoom function.

Buddy shook his head. "I doubt it. Why would he need this when we've got that?" he jerked his head towards the circular object sitting in the center of the Celsius' bridge, the map and navigation console.

"He's right," Lerii piped up in agreement. "Eido would probably love this kind of gadget, he's already told me that he's working on a portable navigation unit that we can use to download—"

"What IS that?"

Rikku glanced over her shoulder, "Speak of the devil. Eido, come here! Take a look at this. Recognize it?"

Lerii hadn't been kidding when she'd said that the device was the kind of technology Eido would love to get his hands on. His pale green eyes were glued to the mini-Spira projection the entire time as he made his way to the group, face awed. Rikku handed the device over to him and they watched as he toyed with it for a few moments, pressing the various buttons to see what their functions were. The others crowded around to watch in awe.

While he was busy doing that, Rikku decided to investigate the rest of the bridge. She walked over to the co-pilot console and plopped into the seat. A screen immediately appeared asking for her login code. Rikku entered the information and then pulled up the log for any recent activity. She wasn't surprised to find that there were a few attempts that fell into the time frame of the break-in. Someone had tried to hack past the security lock but had been unsuccessful; Shinra had definitely been thorough when he'd designed the system.

But why? Eido had said that the sphere data that the Gullwings had collected had been copied. Nothing was missing and so far, there were no signs of tampering with any of the systems. _I don't get it. What were they looking for?_

"Brilliant. Simply brilliant!" Eido gushed suddenly and Rikku craned her head over her shoulder to see that his face was positively glowing with excitement. The teenager held out the device and pressed a button to make the original hologram of Spira reappear. "It's definitely a map of some sort. But it's much more complex."

"How's that?" Buddy asked, starting to grow impatient.

"Well, take a look closely at this," Eido tapped at one of the buttons and brought a menu up. He scrolled down to select something that changed the mini-Spira into patch of blue with a small, swirl of white that appeared to be moving. "What does that look like to you?"

"A…a hurricane?" Lerii guessed.

"Exactly. Buddy, do you remember that hurricane in the southern ocean that Brother was talking about when we were on our way here from the north?"

Buddy nodded, dumbfounded as to what that had to do with what they were looking at. Eido went on with an excited wave of his free hand to the image, "This IS that hurricane. In fact, this image is an EXACT representation of it in real time. What you're looking at is the very thing that is happening in the southern ocean as we speak."

There was a beat of stunned silence. Finally, the Guard ventured timidly, "How…how is that even possible? What kind of machine does this?"

"Good question. It's pretty advanced, even for us," Rikku said as she logged off and climbed out of the seat to join the others. "Eido, have you ever seen anything like this?"

The teenager nodded, "Once when Shinra and I were working on something to watch weather conditions. I think he may have integrated some components of it into some of the Celsius' systems because I recognize the protocols."

"So…technology at this level…" something akin to accusation dawned slowly onto the Guard's face, "would have to be the work of an Al Bhed."

"And what exactly are you trying to imply?" Rikku coldly demanded, staring him down. Not that she really needed to ask. She could tell by just the way he'd been carefully looking at them that the seeds of suspicion had long been planted in his mind before this. The Guard's expression faltered and Rikku saw a flicker of uncertain fear pass through his eyes.

"N-Nothing, ma'am. I didn't mean to imply anything," he stammered, paling. She could still see how warily he was watching them.

"Look," Lerii stepped in, "standing here arguing about it isn't going to help."

Eido held out the device and added, "As much as I'd LOVE to take credit for creating something like this, I'm afraid I can't. Our machina isn't anywhere near this level. You can check the Celsius all you want and the closest thing you'll find is our weather tracking system. And that's nowhere near this level in complexity."

The Guard didn't seem entirely convinced. He just muttered something about needing to take the strange object in as evidence and snatched it from Eido's hand before scurrying off. Rikku frowned at his departing form. He was probably going to go tell Mako about his findings and by the way that woman seemed to regard the Al Bhed…Oh great.

In the end nothing out of the ordinary had been found besides the ransacked bridge and copied sphere data. The rest of the ship showed signs that someone had hastily searched. However, it was obvious that the bridge had been the focal point of the intrusion. Mako also ordered for the entire airship to be impounded in Bevelle for further inspection. The Gullwings were NOT happy. They were gathered in the Cabin after learning of this development.

"This is such _cred!_ It's OUR ship! Where does she get off telling us what to do!" Buddy seethed. He stopped to his feet from the bed where he and Lerii were sitting side by side. He started pacing, mumbling angrily. ((_shit!_))

"But Buddy she just wants to be sure that there isn't a time bomb or something. Who know what else they could have done," Lerii spoke up with a shiver at the thought.

Buddy whirled incredulously on her, jaw clenched. "I don't _want_ strangers on my ship poking around, damnit!"

"It'll only be for a few days," Eido interjected in an attempt to calm the enraged man down. When it came to the Celsius, Buddy—as well as Brother—was beyond protective.

Buddy stubbornly shook his head, "That damn Mako is just making a big deal out of some punks trying to steal from us."

"Well, you have to admit," Rikku said at last, knowing Buddy wouldn't want to hear this. Someone had to point it out, though, "these ARE suspicious circumstances."

He looked betrayed. "Yeah, but--"

"Wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry?" Lerii asked her boyfriend exasperatedly. "I mean, what if we got the clear and set off some sort of explosive trying to take off? Honestly! It's not worth _dying_ for, Buddy!"

He looked inclined to disagree. Then again, Rikku reminded herself, Buddy and Brother had almost died trying to get their hands on the Celsius. They had even resorted to eating a poor seagull for survival in attaining this end. To them, the Celsius probably WAS worth dying for.

Eido seemed to realize that this could quickly escalate into an argument between the couple. He sensibly remarked, "Well, maybe something good could come of it since Mako has allowed for us to come to Bevelle with the ship."

'Allowed' was putting it nicely, Rikku thought with a grit of her teeth. The truth was, as Mako had very briskly told them, that the ship was being taken to Bevelle for further inspection for a few days and they were coming with it. Just protocol, she had icily informed them. She'd also coolly brushed off Buddy's initial dismayed protest with a casual sneer, "It's in your best interest if you cooperate. I'd hate to turn on the HoloNet to see that your ship had been blown to smithereens by an attempted assassination on…on one or all of Spira's leaders."

"What good can come out of strangers picking my baby apart?" Buddy asked, turning away from Lerii to look at the younger Al Bhed.

Rikku smiled. Knowing Eido, there was one thing she knew for certain about this situation that truly fascinated him. "You're talking about that little gadget we found on the bridge, aren't you?"

The teenager flushed at his transparency but nodded, "If they let me help them to analyze it, we might be able to find a way to trace it back to whoever _made_ it. That is not something you'd just find anywhere."

Buddy's glum face lit up, "Which could connect us to who broke into the ships!"

"Precisely."

"Well, Cid said he'd be taking Brother to see a doctor here in Luca so they're going to meet us in Bevelle later. Are you coming with us, Rikku?" Lerii glanced curiously at the other woman. The boys looked hopefully at her as well. As much as Rikku loathed involving herself in more trouble, she couldn't—and wouldn't—just leave her friends when they needed her.

She smiled and held up a fist, "Count me in. If someone snooping around our ship and trying to get into our computers is desperate enough to kill someone, then something is definitely up."

Though Bevelle's outward appearance seemed as if it had not changed by very much, Rikku could feel a charge in the air that had not been present two years ago. It was apart of the fruits of Baralai's labors. The young praetor of New Yevon had worked hard to reform the corrupted New Yevon after the harrowing Vegnagun experience. With his friends from their respective factions aiming for the same goal of ending the conflicts as him, Baralai had made the extra effort to impress the notion of a peaceful coexistence with those outside of New Yevon upon the people.

And it showed that his ideals were slowly being accepted. If she squinted, Rikku could make out the bustling business and market district far below. The people looked like ants as they went about their business. Some were browsing the various stands that sold a multitude of things from fruit to discounted airship parts. Others were haggling with vendors over prices while other vendors called out loudly, each vying to be louder than the other to be heard about their products, a scene not unlike that of the market place in Luca. Rikku knew of a stand somewhere down there dedicated solely to machina that was run by a friend of hers. Bevelle had come a long way if the stories she'd heard from Al Bhed who had tentatively settled in the grand city were true.

The pilot of the airship Lotus, a friendly Yevonite named Veriac, announced, "We'll be at the Temple in two minutes."

He and his co-pilot expertly maneuvered the massive airship towards a newly developed docking port for airships belonging to the Temple. The Celsius, set to a remote auto-pilot mode, was strung along below the Lotus by some thick chains. Veriac would have to set it down first, disengage the chains, and then bring the Lotus down for a landing.

"EASY! That's my baby you're toting!" Buddy hollered frantically to Veriac. He was practically one with the window, his face and hands pressed against the domed, clear surface as he tried to maintain sight of the Celsius throughout the entire trip. Mako had insisted that they ride in the Lotus with her and the rest of the Bevelle Royal Guard 'just in case.'

"She's in good hands, I promise!" Veriac cheerfully replied, reaching over to flick some switches and slowly pull up on the control handles. Rikku could see his co-pilot beginning his end of the landing process.

"Ugh…" moaned Buddy in an unconscious imitation of Brother, "you're going to end up _dragging _her if you try to land at this speed!"

Veriac chimed up, "Don't worry. I won't--"

"_Veriac._" Mako hissed sternly and the smile faded from the pilot's face at her impatient expression. "Just put the thing down and land. We are pressed for time."

_We are?_ Rikku thought sarcastically, scowling.

"Yes, milady," Veriac answered. He, as promised, carefully hovered in one spot, slowly setting the Celsius to the ground. "Disengaging towing clamps."

Rikku heard a loud _thunk _as the tough, reinforced clamps that had been all that held the Celsius to the chains connected to the Lotus released their grip. The co-pilot, with Eido and Lerii looming over his shoulder to ensure that he was doing it properly, added, "Setting remote command to the Celsius: auto-pilot sequence to land."

Buddy's massive sigh of relief was what told Rikku that the Celsius was safe and sound on the ground. The Lotus retracted the chains and then flew a few spaces down, coming to a landing herself. The crew began talking amongst themselves, happy to be back in Bevelle. Rikku got the impression that they had been on some sort of mission before being called to Luca.

Mako looked at Veriac, "Get her checked out and ready for the next mission. And have the Celsius looked into immediately. Then you are all dismissed for the day."

"Yes ma'am," Veriac barked faithfully with a salute.

The woman turned to look at Rikku and the others, "If you'd all follow me please."

She swept out of the bridge. Exchanging looks with the others, Rikku followed step, the other Gullwings not far behind. At end of the lowered ramp was a familiar figure waiting for them that it took a few seconds for Rikku to place.

"Welcome back, Lady Mako," spoke a low voice. Rikku's eyes widened in recognition.

"Isaaru?" She exclaimed, stepping around Mako, whose eyes she could feel burning into the side of her head.

The man that awaited them at the bottom of the ramp was dressed in the stiff, formal robes that were the general fashion of Bevelle. His long brown hair was pulled back from his face into a high pony-tail, accentuating his youthful features: warm dark eyes, a long nose, and pale skin. His serious demeanor cracked disappeared for a moment when he saw her, and he smiled.

"Miss Rikku! Hello there. It's very nice to see you again," the former Summoner said. He, much to her chagrin, stepped back and did the respectful bow that was associated with Yevon. No matter how much these people had seen, it seemed those who were once faithful to Yevon still had a few of the false god's traditions deeply ingrained in their ways.

"Where's Pacce? And Maroda?" Rikku asked when she didn't notice two of Isaaru's constant companions and brothers.

"Oh they're running around here somewhere. I think Maroda may be chasing Pacce and the Kinderguardians around since I've been hearing of talks of a great 'treasure hunt'," He answered with a shrug, smiling.

Mako cleared her throat and the jovialness reluctantly faded from Isaaru's face. He gave Rikku an apologetic look that promised they'd continue catching up later, then turned to face the captain of the Bevelle Royal Guard, "Was it a productive trip, milady?"

She began walking down the ramp, purpose in every step, "We've brought back some evidence. Is the praetor back safe and sound?"

Isaaru nodded, "Yes, milady. Gippal also was reported to have been dropped off safely at Djose, and we just received word that Mevyn Nooj is already back in Mushroom Rock Road thanks to the LeBlanc Syndicate. Dakaris has filled me in the situation."

"Good. I'm going to report to Praetor Baralai now," Mako coolly responded. She jerked her head over her shoulder as an afterthought, "Be sure that our…guests are properly accommodated until we are through with the Celsius."

Isaaru inclined his head, "As you wish."

Without even a glance at the Gullwings, she and her men marched away. Lerii watched the Guards and their captain disappear down the walkway and into the heavily guarded back entrance of the Temple. She said in mild annoyance, "She's treating us as if we are prisoners. We didn't DO anything."

"Please do not take any offense to Lady Mako's manner. She's just been very concerned about the well-being of the praetor lately," Isaaru attempted to explain. "She just comes off as…brusque."

"_Brusque?_" Buddy exclaimed disbelievingly. He was still holding a grudge for how offhandedly his concerns for his precious airship were being treated.

Isaaru blinked at his outburst awkwardly before offering the whole group a placating smile, "I imagine it has been a most distressing day for all of you. Please allow me to take you in as our honored guests. I expect the praetor will be asking to see all of you soon."

Buddy muttered something about 'if that overprotective _pedlr_ lets him' but Lerii—while flushing at her boyfriend's mouth—nodded gratefully to Isaaru, "Please. That would be nice. I could use something to drink." ((_bitch_))

Rikku fell into step beside Isaaru as he led them towards the back entrance of the hulking red building that was Bevelle's main Temple. She politely asked him how he had been and what he had been up to the past few years. It didn't surprise her to hear that he'd taken quickly to living in Bevelle as a part of Baralai's administrative staff. The young ex-Summoner had the quiet dignity and air of intelligence that many of the priests in Bevelle lacked as stuck in the old ways as they were. Isaaru had become a trusted man that Baralai could rest assured leaving Bevelle in the hands of whenever he went away. Rikku wondered if the well-meaning but slightly naïve Isaaru knew of any of this.

"Miss Paine is also here. She is around here somewhere. I'll tell her that you've all arrived," Isaaru reported whilst turning a corner into a wide, cold corridor with almost no décor aside from some ancient tapestries of Bevelle hundreds of years ago.

"Oh! Thanks!" Rikku said. She'd almost forgotten that Paine had ended up in Bevelle too.

They were presented in a large, surprisingly well furnished guest room with a huge window that overlooked the lower levels of Bevelle. With a promise to have someone come with some refreshments and directions to just find anyone and ask. Buddy and Lerii sank into one of the comfy red sofas and spent a good few minutes readjusting the way they were sitting so that they wouldn't disappear into the super soft cushion. Eido was staring down at lower Bevelle with a contemplative look on his face.

Rikku grew restless only five minutes into this pointless waiting for whatever it was they were waiting for. She'd been on the move for way too long to be comfortable cooped up in rooms like this. She abruptly stood from the seat she'd taken and said, "This is boring. I'm going to go take a look around."

Buddy looked as if he were about to follow but Lerii dragged him back down by the back of his pants with an insistence to 'Oh just be patient, Buddy!' as Eido just nodded towards her in acknowledgement. Unsurprisingly there was a guard posted outside of the door. However, he didn't stop Rikku from leaving and the girl quickly scampered past, not willing to try her luck.

Her thoughts were awhirl as she made her way down the hall. Namely were questions as to who would break into the Celsius? And why? Sure, the Gullwings had stepped on some toes during their stunts. But—come on—it was _sphere hunting_. Then again, if this WAS the work of a rival group of sphere hunters, why hit the other ships? To cover up the real target? And what about the copied sphere data?

Rikku shook her head violently to clear it, some of the beads in her hair clacking together as she did so. It was obvious this would get her nowhere. Sighing, she contented herself with just trying to get through the temple and maybe out to check out the newly revitalized Business District of Bevelle. If she was going to be forced to stay here until they figured out what was going on might as well enjoy it, right?

She stumbled upon a corridor that broke off into a passage that led to the lower temple and a huge, elegantly decorated archway that was supported by two magnificent golden pillars. Atop the arch were words etched meticulously in stone: _To Remember Always._ Rikku's breath hitched as it dawned on her what she was standing before.

The Hall of Memories.

After the Vegnagun incident, Baralai had decided to create a place where the many statues commemorating the Summoners that had given their lives in order to protect their beloved Spira a final resting place in a world where they were no longer needed. The idea of the Hall of Memories had been met with astonishing support and cities and towns from all over Spira sent the statues in their possession to find a place in the newly built memorial. Rikku had personally never visited it but she had heard many tales of its grandeur from others she'd met on her travels. Now, standing before it, hesitant to even enter a place that represented such a tumultuous yet important phase of Spira's past, Rikku could understand why it was gaining the reputation it was.

_Stop being silly, Rikku. Memories are nice but…oh you know!_ Rikku rebuked herself, even starting to quote the infamoussaying of her people.

Still, she felt apprehensive stepping onto the smooth, navy marbled flooring. She heard the thud-thud of her footsteps echo into the vast chamber. The room was lit with a soft orange-yellow glow from the enchanted glass bulbs lining the walls. A plethora of statues were scattered throughout, some standing proudly on their pedestals unblemished as others began to show wear from the many years they had endured.

Rikku was careful not to touch them as she walked through. She took in the faces staring back proudly, serenely, frozen by time. What had these people been like? Had they had families of their own? Had they had children they left behind in the name of Spira as her Uncle Braska had done to her cousin? What had they been like as people? What had been their last thoughts before they gave themselves to the Final Aeon, not knowing that in ten years their efforts would be fruitless and the cycle of death connected to Sin would continue? It was a disheartening afterthought.

Upon closer inspection she noticed that each statue had a sphere in front of them that seemed installed right into the floor. She didn't know what they were for until she stepped too near to one. Instantaneously it lit up in a bright purplish glow. Then it flashed and sprang to life. Rikku was startled to find herself staring down at a miniature holographic projection of the summoner that was poised in rigid dignity behind the sphere.

It further amazed her when it began to talk. _"My name is Solaira. Hopefully if anyone has found this and is watching…then that means my guardian and I have succeeded and Sin is no more. I…I guess that means that Jankin and I are no more either but…that's okay. We chose this path and I am grateful that our deaths had meaning in the end…"_

The face was expressionless; whoever had gone through the trouble of putting such detail into this hologram must not have bothered with the facial expressions. But Rikku could hear the bittersweet smile in the voice. Solaira went on in a brief good bye to her friends and family, and Rikku distracted herself from the sinking feeling of sadness by inspecting the sphere emitting the hologram closer. There was such incredible detail in the hologram despite the lack of facial expression that Rikku knew no ordinary person could have created this. She sucked in a sharp breath as her eyes traced along the rim of the sphere, noting the tiny holes lining the circumference, each with a tiny laser shooting out of them to create the form of Solaira.

"…_to honor the union of our two great cities…"_

The scratchy voice came out of no where, effectively startling Rikku right out of her thoughts. She whirled, her heart loudly hammering away in her ears. It had been a while since she'd allowed for anyone to be able to sneak up on her. Which was odd because she was sure she didn't sense anyone else entering the through the doors; doors that were still in her line of sight, actually.

She scanned the area around her wildly but saw no one. And yet the voice—by the muffled quality obviously a recording—continued. Rikku tentatively took a step in the direction to find the source, and the projection of Solaira vanished the moment she stepped out of range, cutting the ancient summoner's voice off mid-sentence. This made Rikku momentarily turn her head to regard the now deactivated sphere. _The spheres are motion sensitive then. So someone else IS in here._

Rikku followed scratchy voice along the rows of summoner statues. Then she came upon an area where it appeared to be reserved for two particular statues, two that she instantly recognized. One was a figure of a large, imposing man donned in golden armor. His face was calm and wise and it seemed that the sculptor had gone through great lengths to project his proud bearing. His eyes were gems, twinkling in bright specks of topaz or whatever precious stone the sculptor had used.

_Zaon, Yunalesca's husband…The first Aeon._

Speaking of the devil, across from him, in the direction in which the statue of Zaon was facing, was the magnificently sculpted figure of Yunalesca herself. Her pale hair billowed out in a fan of white stone, chiseled with meticulous detail line by line to give the illusion or separate strands twirling together. She impassively stared back at her husband, arm outstretched as he reached back for her. Together, they looked to be every bit the honored husband and wife of legends that sacrificed everything for Spira.

Even knowing that Yunalesca had become the source of Spira's suffering from Sin, Rikku found herself feeling sad that the couple before her had had little time to enjoy their life together during the great Machina War, a war so terrible that it would spawn the birth of a thousand years of pain. Rikku's eyes were then drawn to the hologram of Zaon. She'd been so enraptured by the sheer etherealness of the statues that she had not even been paying attention to what he was saying.

"…_.no price too large to pay if it is to protect the lives of those we hold dearest to our hearts. In my own, I hold two who are very dear to me and with every breath I draw I vow—"_

"Did you know him?"

Rikku whirled, startled yet again, mind already yammering away about how she was getting sloppy if people were randomly able to sneak up on her like this. She did not expect to find herself staring down at a little girl, though. _Oh great. If a child is able to sneak up on me without me even noticing, I am DEFINITELY getting sloppy._

The little girl stared at her pleadingly, "Can you help me find him?"

"What?"

"I want to go home. Can you help me?" the girl begged, bright eyes staring at Rikku tearfully and afraid. "Please?"

Rikku didn't know what to say at first. Then she kneeled so that they were eye level and said, "Whoa, whoa. Easy now. Are you lost?"

The girl looked down, a hand nervously toying with a part of her dirty, ripped dress. She mumbled, "I think so. They left me. All of them! I just want to go home. I don't like the sea. Help me?"

_The sea? _Rikku was baffled; they weren't near any sea for miles and miles! She didn't push it when the little girl was obviously so distressed. Instead, she soothed, "Hey, it's okay. Don't cry! I'll help you find your parents."

"Rikku?" a voice called tentatively from the direction of the entrance. Rikku recognized the flat, almost emotionless timbre.

"I'm back here, Paine!" She called back, glancing over her shoulder as the clip-clop of Paine's boots echoed across the stone floor.

A few seconds later the tall woman appeared from behind one of the many rows of statues. She frowned down at the crouched Rikku, "What are you doing? Trying to catch a mouse?"

"Huh? No! I was just talking to this little girl. I think she's lost," Rikku explained. She saw a puzzled look cross Paine's face before the older woman raised an eyebrow at her.

"What little girl?"

It was Rikku's turn to frown. "What do you mean 'what little girl'? That--" She twisted back around with a finger pointed…to an empty spot on the floor. "…little girl." Her head swiveled around wildly in search. "Hey! Where'd you go? He-ey!"

Paine crossed her arms, "Maybe you imagined her."

Rikku threw her an indignant glare, "She was _there_. I know she was. I was talking to her."

The other woman just gave her a dubious look. After a few moments, she went on, "I came to tell you that Brother and your father just arrived. You might want to go meet them."

"….I guess you're right," Rikku reluctantly agreed. Paine turned and exited as swiftly as she'd come. Rikku hung back for a few seconds, taking another careful look around. Then, conceding defeat, turned to follow her friend out.


End file.
